Revenge: Chapter Fourteen
by ucsbdad
Summary: Where is Richard Castle? Beckett wants him. She wants him badly. So do the rest of his friends. And so it ends. But is it happily ever after? The story is now COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Yes, I own Castle! Or was that hassle? Passel? Okay, I don't own it. Rating: It'll get to M sooner or later. Time: Season Four, before 47 Seconds.

"Beckett." She said briskly into her phone.

"Katherine, I'm sorry to bother you."

Kate smiled, hearing Martha's voice. "No problem, Martha. What can I do for you?"

"Is Richard there?"

Kate took a quick look around the bullpen. "No, he hasn't come in yet. Since he isn't in by now and we don't have any active cases, I thought he probably wasn't coming in."

Martha thought for a second. "I'm sure he said he was coming in. I'm positive he said he was going to stop and get you your coffee."

Kate shrugged. Richard Castle was not a predictable man, by any means. "I'm sure he just got distracted, Martha. You know how he is. What did you want to talk to him about anyway?"

"I asked him to pick up some costumes for me. He took the Mercedes so he'd have room for them. I do need them by tonight. But the costume shop called about an hour ago and told me they also have a shipment of wigs I need. I wanted to make sure that Richard picked the wigs up too. The young lady at the shop is the owner's niece, and while she's very nice, she's a bit scatterbrained. I've been calling Richard, but all I get is his voicemail. If you see him, can you give him the message that he needs to pick up the wigs, too?"

Kate wrote that down on a pad and put it on Castle's chair, where he'd be sure to see it when he came in. "No problem, Martha. And I'll be sure to tell Castle that I do not appreciate cold coffee." She said that with a laugh to Martha would know she wasn't angry at her writer-partner.

"As well you should, Katherine. Coffee is sacred to you, I know. Thank you so much. Good bye."

"Good bye, Martha." Kate put her phone down slowly. It wasn't so much that coffee was sacred to her, but that Castle brought it to her every day. Well, every day that he came in.

"Beckett!" Espo called. "We got one. A convenience store holdup gone bad. One dead."

She grabbed her sidearm and her phone and put on her coat. "Ready, let's go." As she was walking out, she called Castle and got his voicemail. She told him they had a body drop and where to meet them.

Lanie was already there when Kate and her team arrived at the crime scene. "What do we have?" Kate asked her.

"You'll want to talk to the uniforms who arrived first, but it was a robbery. The store clerk, Mr. Reynoso, said the guy came in with a hoodie, a baseball cap and shades. He pulled a gun and had Reynoso empty the cash drawer. The girl walked in in the middle of it. The robber turned around and shot her. She's Karen Shaw, age 17. According to her ID, she's a high school student."

Kate nodded. _The wrong place at the wrong time. _"Okay, let me know what you find."

Lanie nodded and Kate went to talk to Reynoso, who was already speaking in Spanish to Esposito. Javi turned to Kate. "Mr. Reynoso says the guy was shaky, nervous or maybe in withdrawal. They do have a security camera. Reynoso was just about to replay it for us."

Reynoso led the three detectives into the cramped back office and turned on the monitor for them. A grainy black and white picture showed the shooter walking in and holding up the store. Then Karen Shaw walked in. For a second the shooter seemed to ignore her, then turned and shot her. He ran out the door.

"Did you see how he was shaking?" Ryan asked. "Strung out, I bet."

"He touched the counter with his hand. It's Formica, we'll get some prints." Kate said.

"Of everyone who's been in here for the last year, I bet." Espo added.

"Detectives?" They were interrupted by a uniform. "We may have a break. I have a witness who says he knows who the shooter is."

Ron Poole was a tall, well-built African-American who was wearing a NY Yankees' ball cap, tee shirt and sweat pants. "Yeah. I saw the little shit run out just after I heard the shot. He lives in my building, him and his junkie girlfriend, Alice or something."

"Can you tell us his name, sir?" Kate asked.

"Tom something. I've seen him and Alice a hundred times. I know it was him. They live in apartment 2D. I can take you right there."

The three detectives and the uniforms cleared everyone off the second floor, then gathered around the door to apartment 2D. "NYPD!" Kate yelled. "Open up." No reply. She identified themselves again. She nodded to Espo. "Kick it in." Instead, Ryan reached over and opened the door.

"Unlocked." He said as the police poured into the apartment, weapons ready.

"I've got them." Called a uniform. "In the bedroom."

Tom and Alice something were naked in bed, passed out. Espo looked at the upended carton that served as a nightstand. "Syringe, candle, spoon and a white powder. He took the money, got some smack and they both shot up." He raised Tom's eyelid, then Alice's. "They'll be out of it for hours."

"Got a weapon." Ryan said, putting a revolver into an evidence bag.

"Okay, call an ambulance for these two. Get CSU in here. When he comes to, we'll arrest him for murder. The girl we can get for possession, maybe as an accessory."

"What a waste." Someone muttered.

When Kate got back to the precinct, she noticed at once that there was no familiar coffee cup on her desk and no one had seen or heard from Castle. She thought about calling him, but decided to do her paperwork instead. _Castle wouldn't like this murder. It's too mundane, and he'd hate it that there's nothing left to do but paperwork_.

When she finished her report, she called Castle but got only his voicemail. She left a brief message and then called Martha.

"Hi, Martha. It's Kate. Have you heard from Castle yet?"

"No, dear. I haven't. I did call the costume shop and he hasn't been in. I'm starting to get worried. Do you think he may have been in an accident or something?"

"Oh, I doubt it." Kate said, not wanting to upset Martha. "He's just being Castle. I'll call you if he shows up here, okay?"

"Thank you, Katherine. I appreciate it. Bye."

After hanging up, Kate thought for a minute, then stood up and grabbed her things.

"Beckett." Espo called. "You leaving already? It's barely four o'clock."

Kate decided to tell the boys what was happening. "Castle told Martha he was coming in today, but he never showed up. He was supposed to run an errand for her as well, but apparently he didn't do that either. It's probably nothing, but I thought I'd check the coffee shop he usually goes to."

Ryan and Espo stood up. "We're coming too." Ryan said.

"That's not necessary. You know Castle. He got distracted by something shiny and forgot all about us."

Espo shrugged. "Better than sitting here shuffling paper."

Kate walked into Java Joint and identified herself. She held up a photo of Castle on her phone. "Do you recognize this man?" She asked.

The manager nodded. "Sure. Mr. Castle. He comes in here all the time."

"Was he in today? Earlier? Say between seven thirty and eight?"

The manager shrugged. "I don't know. I got in here at noon. But you're in luck. Cindy is working a double shift today. She was here when we opened up." He turned from Kate and called, "Hey, Cindy. Come here for a minute.

A tall, slender blonde teenager detached herself from a group of other waitresses and walked over to Kate and the manager. "Yes?"

"Did you see this man today?" Kate held up her phone.

Cindy smiled. "Sure. Mr. Castle. Really nice and always tips well." Cindy frowned for a second and then smiled. "You're the grande latte double pump sugar free vanilla, right?"

Kate blushed and smiled at the same time. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. Mr. Castle didn't show up at the precinct and his family is worried. Can you tell me when you last saw him?"

Cindy's brow furrowed. "Between seven, when we opened, and eight, I think. It gets really busy here about then. But he was definitely here this morning."

"Did he seem upset? Worried? Distracted?"

Cindy shook her head. "He seemed perfectly normal. He smiled at me. Thanked me for the coffee and put a five dollar tip in the jar."

"Did you see anyone who seemed to be paying close attention to him? Anyone who looked suspicious in any way?"

Cindy shook her head again. "No, but there are so many people in here in the morning…Is he in trouble? Did something happen to him?"

"No. I'm sure it's nothing serious. Thanks for your help."

Kate exited the coffee shop to find Espo and Ryan coming towards her, looking worried.

"Castle drives a silver Mercedes, right?" Espo asked. "Do you know his license plate?"

She shook her head. "He drove the Mercedes today, according to Martha, but I don't know the license. Why?"

"We found one down the block. Maybe it's his?"

The three detectives walked down the block to the parked Mercedes.

"It's the model he has, I'm sure." Kate said, now starting to get worried.

Ryan pulled out his phone. "I'll call in and get them to run the plate."

Espo had bent down by the car. "Look at this." He pointed to two coffee cups on the ground just under the car. He carefully recovered the two cups and sniffed them both. "This one smells of vanilla." He knelt again. "Oh, crap!" He reached further under the car.

"Espo, what is it?" Kate was feeling worse and worse about this.

Espo stood up and held put a key ring. "Keys. One of them's for a Mercedes." He clicked the key and the doors unlocked.

"It's Castle's car." Ryan told them. "The plates match. And take a look at the outside right rear view mirror."

Kate saw that the mirror had been pushed forward from its usual position. She examined it. "There's a small stain. It could be blood." Kate took a deep breath and pushed down her fear and anxiety. _Calm. I need to stay calm._

Esposito took a step back. "I think there are coffee stains on the side of the car." He thought for a moment. "So Castle gets your coffee, comes back to the car and puts the two cups on the roof of the car while he gets his keys out. Someone hits him, knocking the coffee off the car and he drops his keys. Then he's dragged off."

Kate nodded. "He's been kidnapped. I'm calling it in." She pulled out her phone.

"We'll check for security and traffic cams." Ryan said, as he and Espo started down the street.

"Don't forget the Java Joint." Kate called to them. "If it is a kidnapping, they've probably been following him. Working out his schedule. Get their security cam records going back as far as they go."

They spent an hour looking, but found nothing useful. The street had no traffic cams they found out.

"There are two exterior security cams on the block. One shows only the sidewalk in front of a store and the other one's on an apartment building and it's been busted since forever, according to the doorman." Ryan told Kate.

"We did get the vids from the Java Joint. Their stuff goes back two weeks. We'll check the days that Castle bought coffee here, then we'll look at the rest of it. We'll find something." Espo said with conviction. A conviction Kate didn't feel.

She took a deep breath. "I'll go see Martha and Alexis. They should hear this from me in person and not over the phone."

"We'll be back at the precinct." Ryan said. Espo nodded in agreement.

"Good. I'll see you two back there when I'm done at Castle's. "

Kate stood at the door to the loft, wondering how she was going to manage this. Everyone told her that she was the very best at consoling the bereaved after a murder. She had never done anything like this before. _I can't make them wait any longer. _She knocked on the door.

"Katherine." Martha said, smiling and motioning Kate to come in. Then she saw the look on Kate's face. "Is there something wrong?"

Kate saw Alexis coming from the kitchen with a worried look on her face. "Detective Beckett, is something wrong?"

Kate nodded. She told the two women what they had found.

"Kidnapped. Are you sure?" Martha asked, tears forming in her eyes. Alexis was already crying.

As Kate nodded, Alexis collapsed into Martha's arms. Martha reached out and pulled Kate into the hug.

"A kidnapping is the most logical answer and it's what we're basing our investigation on." Kate said quietly. "I'd be overjoyed if it wasn't a kidnapping, but I don't see any viable alternative."

Martha suddenly looked at her. "But there could be other scenarios, as Richard calls them?"

Kate wasn't sure what Martha was getting at. "What kind of scenarios?"

"Like that horrible serial killer who blew up your apartment? Someone with an irrational grudge against Richard? Just some crazy who picked Richard because he obviously has money? Or because he's famous"

Kate could see that both Martha and Alexis were starting to lose it. She hugged them to her. "We're doing everything we can to get him back. After twenty four hours the law allows the FBI to take jurisdiction on kidnaping cases on the legal assumption that the kidnappers must have crossed state lines. We've already notified the Bureau. They'll be here in the morning."

"Suppose the kidnappers call tonight? Suppose some crazy comes here? Suppose it's someone Richard helped put in jail and he wants revenge against all of us?" Martha asked.

"Martha, I have to go back to the precinct, but when I'm done there, I'll go to my place, get some things and come back here and stay the night with you two. Okay?"

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Katherine." Martha was very relieved.

Alexis held Kate tightly. "Thank you, Detective Beckett."

"Why don't you call me Kate, Alexis?"

"Thank you Kate." Alexis said with a brief smile.

Martha headed for Castle's office. "I know how late you work, so I'll get you a key so you don't have to wake us up when you come in tonight." She came back out of the office and handed a key to Kate. "And thank you again, so much. You have no idea how much better this makes me feel."

Kate returned to the loft just after midnight. Letting herself in, she saw Martha asleep on the couch. She went over and woke the older woman. "Martha. It's me. You should go to bed. I'm here now."

Martha's eyes opened wide and she looked confused for just a second. "Oh! I was so worried I couldn't get to sleep. I was going to wait up for you. I guess I didn't."

"You can go to sleep now. I've locked the front door and I told the doorman about…Castle. And I know how to set the alarm system. I'll take care of that. Go to bed, Martha." Kate said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

Martha stood there, however. "Kathrine, I know this sounds silly, but instead of sleeping in the guest bedroom, could you sleep in Richard's room? Alexis and I sleep on the second floor so his bedroom is the closest to the door, in case anything should happen."

"Sure, Martha. I'll sleep downstairs tonight."

Martha went off to her bedroom and Kate got ready for bed. She slid in between the sheets of Castle's bed, feeling his presence there even in his absence. _I've fantasized about being here enough. I've wished I was here. I've imagined every possible way I could be here, but never this way. In Castle's bed without him. _She felt resolve growing within her. _I've come close to losing him too often. I've got to do this. I have to find myself not just in Castle's bed, but in his heart, just as he's in mine. _Kate relaxed and soon drifted off to sleep.

Her phone awoke her. She looked outside and determined it was just dawn. She checked the phone and saw it was Ryan. "Beckett." She answered.

"Morning. We got a call from the Feds. They'll be over at Castle's loft about seven thirty to set up for a ransom call. You should probably get over there and let them know what we've found, which isn't much. So far we have no more than we did yesterday."

"I'm already there. Martha was so upset last night she asked me to stay. One thing. Martha suggested this might be some nut job like Scott Dunn who's obsessed with Castle or his characters. Or maybe someone he helped put away. Maybe an angry brother, son, lover…Who knows? Can you have all the files pulled that Castle's worked on? And check with Black Pawn. See if he's gotten any threats lately."

"Will do. Another thing. Captain Gates wants to see you ASAP when you get in. She seems to be upset."

Kate groaned. "She's probably hoping we never get Castle back. I'm sure she wants us off the case now that the Feds are involved."

She hung up and decided she may as well get up. She showered and dressed and then found Martha and Alexis making breakfast.

"There's coffee in the pot, Katherine. I'll have your bacon and eggs in a minute."

"Would you like a half a cantaloupe, Kate?" Alexis asked.

Kate usually didn't have much of a breakfast, but was happy to sit with Castle's family. She would have been much happier if Castle was there. She had to tell the two women that there had been no further news about Castle, but that FBI would be by to prepare for the ransom demand.

Promptly at seven thirty there was a knock at the door. Martha answered it. Three agents came in. Two men and a woman. The woman was very much in charge. The woman was tall, taller than Kate and dressed in the Fed's uniform of dark suit and white shirt and striped tie. She looked to be a bit older than Kate, but quite attractive in spite of her black hair being pulled back in a severe pony tail. Her grey eyes surveyed the loft's first floor.

"Mrs. Rodgers? I'm Special Agent Helen Grivas, FBI. These are agents Barrone and Feltzer. They'll be setting up the communications. Have you made arrangements to get money together for the ransom?"

Martha nodded. "I contacted Richard's lawyer. He's getting the information together. He said he can come by at any time."

"Good." Grivas looked over at Kate. "You're family?"

She shook her head. "Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. I can brief you on what we've done so far."

She started to walk over to Grivas, but the agent held up her hands. "Not necessary. We got a briefing from the NYPD. You can go now, Detective. The Bureau is in charge now."

Kate smiled. "Mr. Castle has been embedded with my homicide team at the Twelfth Precinct for several years now. I'm quite familiar with…"

Grivas cut her off. "I do not need, nor do I want, the NYPD getting in my way on this case. Now get the hell out or I'll arrest your bony ass for obstruction of justice. Do you understand me?"

"I'm afraid you don't understand, Agent Grivas." Martha said coldly.

"I don't understand what?" From her tone it was obvious that Grivas believed she understood everything.

Martha put her arm around Kate. "Katherine is a longtime friend of the family and is, in fact, our house guest. I'm afraid she'll have to remain here."

Grivas looked like she was ready to explode. "Mrs. Rodgers, perhaps I should…"

"Perhaps we should wait until Richard's attorney arrives. Perhaps he'll be able to advise me on what rights we have in who lives in our own home."

Grivas glared at one and all. Before she could say anything further, Kate spoke up. "I should be heading for the precinct, Martha."

"We'll expect you for dinner, dear." Martha said with a warm smile.

Kate took Martha's arm and pulled her to the front door and out into the hallway. "Martha, the FBI has jurisdiction over this case now. You shouldn't be antagonizing Grivas. And I should go back to my place."

"Then she shouldn't be antagonizing me. Besides, you know Richard. When they put him on the phone for that proof of life thing, he'll try to get us a message. Grivas won't understand it, but you might. His life could depend on you."

Kate shook her head. _I should let Grivas do her job, but it's Castle…_"Martha, let me think about this. Maybe something will happen that will change everything. I'll get back to you."

When Kate arrived at the precinct, she realized she didn't have her morning coffee. _I can't even get my own coffee any more. I need Castle more than I knew._

"Yo, Beckett!"

"Anything, Javi?" She asked.

"Not so far. We asked files to send up all of the cases Castle has been involved with. The first of them should be up in an hour or so. I also called Black Pawn. They're looking for any threats to Castle in their records. They suggested I call his agent, a Paula Haas, which I did. She said she might have something and will call back." Espo pointed towards Gates's office. "And she wants to see you _now_."

When she knocked on Gates's door, Gates told her to come in and shut the door. "Where are we with Mr. Castle, Detective?"

Kate briefed her on what little information they had and told her about her meeting with Special Agent Grivas. "Grivas told me in no uncertain terms that she did not want the NYPD involved in this case. It's the FBI's case, or more likely, hers. And sir, I'd like to request some time off, immediately."

"You want what?" Gates said sharply.

Kate took a deep breath and went ahead. "I realize that we're a homicide unit and that the FBI has jurisdiction, but Castle is my partner and I cannot ignore the fact that he's been kidnapped. If I'm on vacation…"

"No!" Gates said firmly.

"Sir, I'd like to…"

"Detective Beckett, I do not like Mr. Castle one bit. I will admit that, on occasion, he has been a help to you. That said, it will be a cold day in hell when someone who is a part of my precinct, in any way, shape or form, is kidnapped and I don't do everything in my power to get that person back. Your team's job is to get Mr. Castle back. If you need any further resources, let me know." Gates looked down at the notes she had taken from Kate's briefing. "You say this Special Agent Grivas is not extending the full cooperation we've come to expect from the FBI?"

"To say the least, sir."

"The mayor has asked me to call him directly with an update when you got in. I'll bet His Honor will be interested in what Grivas is doing. Now, go do your job."

Kate went.

"Beckett!" Ryan called. "Sergeant Pontiakowski, from the Four Four. He wants to talk to you."

She grabbed the phone. "Beckett."

"Detective. You have a BOLO on a Richard Castle?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed since the last time I didn't own Castle. Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds.

Kate's heart leapt. "Yes! Have you found him?"

"No such luck. What we have is two kids who tried to buy a lot of expensive electronic equipment with Castle's credit cards. The store owner stalled the kids until we got here. We have them now."

"Have you interrogated them yet?"

"No. We thought you might like to do that."

Kate thought for a second. The drive to the Four Four would take time as would the interrogation, especially if they were involved. But it was a lead on Castle. "How old are these kids?"

"The boy's seventeen and the girl is…" She could hear the rustle of papers "…seventeen."

It was unlikely that anyone that age would be involved with anyone kidnapping a millionaire, so they could be pressured into talking. "Keep them apart. I'll be over to interview them as quickly as I can."

She told Ryan and Esposito about the call and briefed Gates. Then she headed for the 44th Precinct.

When she walked in to the Four Four, a short, balding detective approached her. "Detective Beckett? I'm John Rodney. I'll take you to our suspects. Which one do you want to interview first?"

Kate had thought about it. The boy was more likely to be the leader and to be protective of the girl. "The boy. What can you tell me?"

Rodney looked at a file. "Ernesto Carillo, seventeen. Minor stuff. Shoplifting, a simple assault, vandalism, tagging and one joyriding. The girl is Maria Fuentes, his girlfriend. Two counts of shoplifting and one of possession of alcohol by a minor. No exactly Bonnie and Clyde."

"They all start somewhere." Kate replied.

Rodney led her to the viewing room between the two interrogation rooms. Maria was obviously upset. She was short, a bit plump with short black hair and dark eyes. Ernesto was more self-possessed. Short, skinny with a mop of black hair and an acned face. Both wore jeans and a tee shirt.

"I'll start with Ernesto." Rodney started to come with her. "Stay here, please." Rodney shrugged and nodded.

Kate introduced herself when she walked in. "Ernesto, I'm Detective Kate Beckett, Homicide, Twelfth Precinct. You and Maria are in a lot of trouble."

Ernesto looked surprised. "Maria didn't do nothing.", Was the first thing he said.

Kate smiled to herself. Ernesto cared for the girl. This would make it easier. "The wallet you two stole belongs to my partner. My partner's been kidnapped. Do you know how long you two will be in prison for kidnaping a cop?" Castle wasn't a cop, but Ernesto didn't know that. She hoped.

Ernesto shook his head. "Maria wasn't involved. And we didn't kidnap anyone. We…I found that wallet."

Kate shook her head. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth. Maria had nothing to do with this."

She shrugged. "Okay. Tell me what happened."

"What happens if I tell you?"

"Help us find my partner, convince me you're not involved in his kidnaping, and I can make all of this go away. For both of you."

"Okay. We were walking down 79th, heading for the Game Emporium to play some games. I saw this car stop and toss something towards a trash can sitting in an alley. It was a wallet. I looked inside and there was a lot of money and the credit cards."

"What kind of car? What about the driver?" Kate demanded.

"The car was dark. I didn't see the driver."

Kate sighed and stood up. "Have a nice life, Ernesto." She started to walk away.

"No! I didn't see anything. There are cars parked all along the street. All I could see was the top of the car. It was dark. Maybe black, dark blue, dark green, I don't know. And I couldn't see the driver."

"Can you take me to where you found the wallet?" Kate asked softly.

"Sure. Sure. But Maria had nothing to do with this."

"I'll have to talk to Maria before I decide that."

Kate talked to Maria, who was far more upset that Ernesto, but equally insistent that they hadn't kidnapped anyone. She confirmed Ernesto's story, except that she said she hadn't seen the car at all. Kate tended to believe them.

She loaded them in the back of her Crown Vic, and borrowing a uniform from the Four Four, named Wenzel, they headed for 79th.

"What did you do with the cash, Ernesto?" She asked.

"I bought some jewelry for Maria at a pawn shop. A thousand dollars worth. Can she have it back?"

"Jewelry bought with money you stole from my partner? Forget it."

Maria was quietly crying and Ernesto was trying to comfort her. More and more Kate was believing these two weren't involved in whatever happened to Castle.

Arriving at the scene, Kate found a familiar uniform waiting for her. "Officer Hastings. What are you doing here?"

"Sergeant Pontiakowski called Detective Esposito while I was talking to Esposito. My dad's dry cleaners was just a block from here, so I volunteered to come over and help with the canvas." Hastings looked around quickly. "We muses have to stick together, you know." She whispered.

Ernesto led them to the spot where he'd found the wallet. As Ernesto had said, there were cars parked all along the street. He wouldn't have seen much of the car. "What did you do with the wallet?" Kate asked.

"Took the money and cards out and tossed it in the trash." He pointed to a trash can down the narrow alley.

Hastings looked in the can. "Here it is." She handed it to Kate.

The first thing Kate saw opening the wallet was Castle's face on his driver's license. She looked through the wallet and was surprised to find a picture of herself in his wallet. It had been taken recently from what she was wearing. Within the last few months. She was sitting at her desk, doing paperwork. In spite of everything, Kate smiled. _He wanted a photo of me in his wallet. I have to get him back. I have to make everything right with us._

She tucked the wallet into an evidence bag and looked up and down the street. There wasn't a traffic cam in sight. "No traffic cams, but we'll canvas for security cams or anyone who saw anything."

"What about us?" Ernesto asked.

"You stay locked in the back of the car for now. We'll hold you over night, but if we don't connect you to the kidnaping by then, you two walk."

Maria started to cry again and tried to thank Beckett. Kate just put them both in the back of her cruiser and locked them inside.

Kate and Wenzel took one side of the street and had no luck. Only one business had a security cam and it didn't show the street outside. When they got to the end of the block, they saw Hastings waving at them. Kate ran to her with Wenzel following.

"Detective Beckett, I knew there was a security camera on this street and it shows the street. Come on, they're looking for the video now." Hastings led them to a store and introduced them to the manager, Jimmy, tall, skinny with long grey hair in a pony tail, and a scraggly grey beard.

"This is about the time you want. You can just barely see the alley where they tossed the wallet." Hastings said.

"There!" Kate cried. "A dark car, slowing down. That's got to be it." They watched and then, "No! Damn it!" Kate cried. A large city truck drove slowly down the inside lane of the street, completely blocking their view of the dark car. By the time the truck had passed the car was gone.

"We probably can't get the driver or the plate, but we might be able to ID the make and model of the car." Hastings said hopefully. "Can we have this, Jimmy?"

Kate drove back to the 12th Precinct, feeling worse. They had a lead, but not much of a lead. She had hoped this would break the case open, but it hadn't. Once back at the precinct, she sent the video to the techs and sat down at her desk to review the cases Castle had worked on to try to find a lead.

Just after lunch, she got a call from Martha.

"Hi, Martha. Nothing yet, I'm afraid."

"Katherine, you absolutely have to stay here tonight and every night until Richard is back." She said determinedly.

"Martha, I really don't think…"

"The other option is that I murder that awful woman." Martha snapped.

"Grivas? Why would you do that?"

"I've been listening to her when I'm upstairs and she thinks I can't hear her. All she does is bully those two agents, telling them not to get in her way at the press conference they'll hold once the case is over. She doesn't care a thing about Richard, dear. She's only interested in how this affects her career. I'm really worried."

"Martha, I'll see if I can…"

"And she's said some disgusting things about you."

"She's obviously got no love for local police, although…"

"No. She saw the unmade bed and some of your things in Richard's bedroom and bathroom. She thinks you're sleeping with Richard. That all you're interested in is his money. She's called you…Well, I'm not going to repeat them. I'm quite serious, Katherine. That woman is the most obnoxious person I've met in years."

Kate took a deep breath. "Martha, I'm a female cop. I've been called a whore and a lesbian and…just about everything. It doesn't bother me. _Much._

"No one has ever called you…those things in my home, and I'm not going to put up with this."

"Martha, okay. I'll stop by my place tonight and get a few more things. I'll stay with you until this is over or until Grivas goes away."

"Thank you, dear. I feel so much better now. Later."

Kate hung up the phone. _I'll be sleeping in his bed again. I'll be with his family again. Will I ever be in his bed and with his family with him?_

She had barely started the next file of cases that Castle had been on when her phone rang again.

"Beckett."

"Detective Beckett? This is Paula Haas, Rick's agent. I apologize for taking so long to get back to you, but one of the clerks misfiled what I was looking for."

"What is it, Ms. Haas?"

"Please, call me Paula. However, Rick was sued by some unpublished, hack writer who claimed Rick stole Nikki Heat from him. The case was thrown out of court about two weeks ago. The writer's name is Jim Colosimo."

"Was there any basis to his claim?"

Paula laughed. "None at all. The guy's a horrible writer. But we got a phone call from Colosimo just after the judge threw the case out. Listen." There was a click and then, "Castle, you worthless prick! You think you can cheat me because of your money and your friends? You think I don't know you bought that fucking judge? You think this is over, dickhead? Well it isn't! I'm going to get you and I'll get every cent you stole from me. Start looking over your shoulder, asshole, because I'll be there."

"That's motive." Kate said. "Paula, can you play it once again so I can copy it? And the FBI will probably send a technician over to make a copy right off your voicemail. And Paula, thanks."

"Hey, he's my friend. And my meal ticket."

Kate copied the recording and said goodbye to Paula.

Kate explained to Ryan and Esposito what she had learned. "Espo, call the courthouse, see what you can find out about this Colosimo. Ryan, can you check the internet? I'm betting if this guy is a writer, he's on line somewhere. I'm going to have the techs look at the recording."

Once back at her desk, Kate settled down to look at more cases. _If this assclown Colosimo has Castle, I'll make him wish he'd never…_She stopped suddenly. _No. I'm a cop. I don't do things like that._

"Yo, Beckett. I've got some good news and bad news about Colosimo."

"Give me the good news first, Espo."

"Our boy is a scofflaw. He's got 122 unpaid traffic and parking citations, and bench warrants out on him from here to Jersey. We don't need probable cause to arrest him."

"The bad news?"

"We checked his address. He's not there any more. But his ex-landlady gave us his forwarding address, but he's not there, either. But, a neighbor said he's doing a job someplace in the city for the last couple of days."

Kate nodded. "Just when Castle got taken. Put out a BOLO on him. I want that son of a bitch."

Espo nodded. "Already done. And you should get some sleep. You look terrible."

She shook her head. "Espo, I've got to look through all of these in case Colosimo isn't the guy. Castle is out there, and I need…"

"You need to be fresh and alert. Not dead on your feet. Get some rest. Ryan and I have this."

Kate nodded and slowly gathered her things. She was tired.

As soon as she walked into the loft, Grivas grabbed her and dragged her into Castle's office. "You dumb little slut!" The FBI agent hissed. "So you think you can do an end run around me to the mayor? I don't care how many millionaires you fuck, this is my case and my case alone. Do you understand that?"

Kate wanted to punch the woman, but didn't. "Let me tell you what you don't understand. Richard Castle is a very wealthy man. And a very generous man. He contributes to every charity in New York, including some of the mayor's favorite charities. He also contributes to his political campaigns. That means that Mayor Weldon and a lot of other rich, powerful, New Yorkers really want to see Richard Castle back again. And they want all of the law enforcement agencies involved working together on this. You think I'm your problem? Your problem is the whole New York establishment, bitch! And if this turns to shit, they will land right on top of you."

Grivas glared at Kate, but Kate could tell that she had gotten to Grivas. The agent tried to walk past Kate, but Kate stopped her. "One other thing, Grivas. Fucking a handsome millionaire is great! And something you'll never do."

Grivas stomped out of Castle's office and headed for the door. "I'm out of here." She snarled to the two agents manning the phone.

Kate walked out of the office to see a smiling Martha standing just outside. "Katherine, I absolutely love you."

Kate smiled, but then shook her head. "I shouldn't have told her I slept with Castle."

"You said no such thing, dear. You said that fucking a handsome millionaire is great. And take it from me, it certainly is."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I love the smell of Castle in the morning…But I don't own it. Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds.

Once again, Kate Beckett slipped into Richard Castle's bed without Castle. She stretched and inhaled the scent of the man. It was everywhere in his bedroom. _How could I have screwed this up so much? _She asked herself. _I was falling in love with Castle before I'd known him a year, and now here I am, four years later and no closer to telling him how I feel, even though I now know how he feels. I should have accepted his invitation to go to the Hamptons as soon as he said it. I should have….No. I can't think about the past. It's the present and the future I have to worry about. First, get Castle back from whoever has him. Then tell him how I feel. I just need a few minutes alone with him, without any damned interruptions. Damn it! No! To hell with any interruptions! I don't care if the whole precinct is there. I'll throw my arms around him, kiss him senseless and tell him I love him._

Satisfied that she had a plan, Kate wrapped her arms around a pillow that held Castle's scent and drifted off to sleep.

Shortly after dawn her phone rang, waking her up. "Beckett."

"Rise and shine, chica." Espo said. "Uniforms just brought Colosimo in. Since we have to notify half the traffic courts in the Tri-State area, it'll be a while before we can get him processed and into interrogation, but I thought you'd like an early start."

"Thanks, Javi. I'll have breakfast and get right in."

"You still at Castle's?"

She was happy that Javi couldn't see her blush. "Yeah." She said shortly. The added, "Martha and Alexis are really upset about all this. They asked me to stay."

"I'm sure having the Wicked Witch of the FBI there isn't making them any happier."

Kate sat up in bed. "The Wicked Witch of the FBI? You mean Grivas?"

"I have a friend. He says Grivas got another agent killed in Dallas when she tried to do an arrest with no backup so she could grab all the credit. Since she was she only surviving witness, she managed to blame it all on the dead agent. No one likes her much, but they have nothing they can use to get rid of her. And that makes her even more determined to crack some big case, no matter who gets hurt."

"Crap." Kate muttered. "Okay, Espo. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be in soon."

Once she'd showered and gotten dressed, Kate walked out into the living room. She was happy to see that Grivas wasn't there, just two new FBI agents snoozing by the phone and their equipment.

Martha waved at her from the kitchen. "I've got coffee on for you, dear. What would you like?"

Kate sat down and took a sip of the coffee. From the taste she was sure it was some expensive gourmet coffee she could never afford. It tasted heavenly. "Coffee and some cold cereal will be fine, Martha. If I keep eating here, though, I won't be able to fit into my skinny jeans any more."

Martha looked upset, so Kate quickly added. "But I do think that it would be a good idea for me to stay here until we get Castle back. If that's all right with you?" If Grivas was as bad as Espo had said, Kate wasn't going anyplace while she was around.

Martha reached over and took her hand. "Of course, dear. Alexis and I love to have you here. And Richard loves having you around as well."

Kate nodded. "I love being around him, too."

"We hope that we see a lot more of you in the future."

"I'd like that." _I would love that._

Kate arrived at the precinct to see Ryan, Esposito and Gates huddled around her desk. "What's up?" She asked.

"I've been looking through the internet to see if I could find something about Colosimo." Ryan answered, pointing to the computer screen. "I was just about to brief the captain and Espo on what I found. It isn't pretty."

"So tell us about it, Detective Ryan." Gates said.

"Basically he writes violent pornography. It's not even good pornography because he posts it on a free site."

"How do you know what good pornography is, bro?"

Gates cleared her throat loudly and glared at Esposito. Ryan went on. "His main character is a detective named Jill Heart, and the name is as close as he's gotten to Nikki Heat. I scanned one of his stories. In the first chapter Heart chases three bank robbers into an abandoned building. She gets knocked out, tied up and raped. In chapter two, it's Heart and her female partner who get tied up and raped. In chapter three, it's a meter maid. And it goes on and on and on. But this guy hates women, he hates cops and most of all he hates women cops."

"Maybe you should let Ryan and me take this one?" Espo suggested.

Gates looked at Kate and smiled. "No. I really think Mr. Colosimo should meet some real women cops. I'll bet he'll lose his temper and say some things he shouldn't. Detective Beckett, what do you say?"

Beckett wanted Colosimo badly and she wanted Castle back even more. She nodded.

"Let's look at Mr. Colosimo's file, shall we?" Gates said.

Kate and Gates looked at Colosimo through the one way glass. James Colosimo was 43 years old, single, no surprise to Kate, and was overweight and out of shape. He was balding and sloppily dressed. In short, he was no woman's dream.

Kate and Gates walked in to the interrogation room.

Colosimo glared at them. "What is this? Those tickets are bogus. You can't prove I was driving. You can't prove I was anywhere near the truck. A friend could have borrowed it without me knowing."

"Is that your story, Colosimo?" Kate sneered.

"Even if it is your story, "Gates took over, "that's between you and a number of judges."

Colosimo snorted. "Yeah. A bunch of political hacks getting rich off of the working man. Big fucking deal."

"Like the judge in your case with Richard Castle?" Kate asked.

"Damn straight! The little prick robs me blind, makes a bundle off of my idea and then gets his fat cat buddies to get my case tossed out."

"That must have really pissed you off."

Colosimo glared at Kate. "You've got no idea, honey."

"Is that why you kidnapped Mr. Castle?" Gates asked softly.

Colosimo smiled and then frowned. "What the hell do you mean? Kidnapped? That crook was kidnapped?" Colosimo smiled. "Good! I hope they take the bastard for every cent he has. He deserves it."

"Especially is you get the money, right, Colosimo?"

Colosimo stared at Kate. "I know you! You're that slut he claims gave him the idea for that bitch detective."

Kate shook her head. "No. I'm the bitch detective that's going to see that you spend most of the rest of your life in jail for kidnapping Richard Castle."

"You got nothing. I didn't do nothing. You can't prove a thing, bitch. So get out of my face."

Kate leaned into him. "Castle was kidnapped just after your case was thrown out. You weren't around for the period he's been gone. I think you took him and you've been holding him, letting his family get good and worried so they'll pay you the money you want. Where have you been for the past three days? You weren't at your apartment. We checked. You have an alibi, Colosimo? Because you need one."

Colosimo grinned. "Yeah. I got an alibi. I'm a handyman, see? I've been doing some work for a friend of mine on Long Island. He had a fire in his kitchen. It's a long drive back to my place, so I been staying with him."

"All of the time?" Kate demanded.

"No. I've also been to the Connection. It's an internet café. A lot of us writers go there since the have free wifi."

"So give us the name and address of your friend and the address of the café. We'll check."

"Happy to, bitch. Because you aren't going to find your pimp boyfriend by looking at me."

Kate marched out of the interrogation room with a scowl on her face. Gates was right behind her.

"He's too damned cocky." Kate spat out. "He knows something."

"Maybe all he knows is that he didn't do it, Detective." Gates said softly.

"Maybe. Or maybe he has a partner." Kate made a decision. "Sir, can you get the police in Long Island to talk to this friend who he supposedly was doing work for? And make sure they talk to the neighbors, too. I'd like to take Ryan and Esposito over to this internet café where he writes. If the writers are anything like Colosimo, they may be lying."

"Certainly, Detective."

"I've been having terrible writer's block, Detective." The silver haired woman said to Kate. "You see, the Laird of Kinross is being pursued by Lady Carolyn Champion, a cold, but beautiful woman, who wants the Laird only for his position and his money. The Laird doesn't realize that Catriona Campbell, his daughter's governess is in love with him. He thinks she doesn't care for him. But I've written myself into a corner. I can't figure out how to get the Laird and Catriona together."

Kate nodded. "And Mr. Colosimo?"

"He claims he never has writer's block. Which I believe. He just writes the same awful chapter over and over again. He teased me terribly as I sat here trying to get my hero and heroine together."

"So he was definitely here from six in the evening until at least ten thirty?"

"Yes, dear. Isn't that what I said?"

Kate sighed. "Couldn't you just have Catriona tell the Laird she loves him?"

"Oh. It isn't that easy, dear."

Kate nodded. _Tell me about it. At least I don't have some beautiful, but cold hearted, lady after him. Yet._

"You bet, Detective." Bo Gordon said from behind a truly massive mustache. "I got in at about seven and was here until midnight. You see, the Four Pistoleros, they're my main characters, are in a saloon in Lordsburg. They've just found out they're all after the bounty on the same gang. Each one is trying to convince the other three that they aren't interested. It's not easy writing that kind of dialogue. You know, where someone wants something, but he's pretending that he doesn't. And that damned jackass was sitting at the next table giggling at his stupid stories. I could hardly concentrate." Bo looked at Espo. "Say. Young fellow. How fast are you with that pistol?"

Epso sighed. "We don't do fast draws, sir. We draw our weapon before there's trouble."

"Damned shame."

"Colosimo always laughed at me because I write fanfic." The bearded student said.

"Pardon?" Ryan asked. "Fanfic?"

"Fan fiction. If you're a fan of say, _Star Wars_, you'd write about Han and Chewie before they met Luke and Obi-Wan."

"So you saw Colosimo here?"

"I was doing a crossover…"

"Excuse me? A crossover?" Ryan asked again.

"You combine two different fictional stories. I was doing a _Red Dwarf-Star Trek: TNG _story. Worf is calling everybody a smeghead and Captain Picard says, "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast." instead of "Make it so.""

"So Colosimo was here from four in the afternoon until at least when you left at nine thirty?"

The student nodded. "I'm really having trouble with the challenge now."

"Challenge?" Ryan asked, not really interested.

"A _Resident Evil-Sesame Street_ crossover. See, you have to…"

"Thank you so much, sir." Ryan hurried away.

"Of course the government lied." The old man said, looking around constantly. "Just like they lie about everything. That fake moon landing? Shot in Hollywood. A friend in Idaho exposed the whole thing."

"Sir, about Colosimo?" Kate said wearily.

"He's in on it. Always writing about cops, he is. I'm sure he's keeping an eye on me for them."

"Colosimo was here on Saturday, from about nine AM to six?" Kate said.

He nodded. "Of course you know that. You've got the feed from your surveillance drones. You're one of them, too, of course. I mean you're a cop. You have to be one of them."

"Thank you, sir." Kate said, getting up from the table.

"You're pretty, too. If you're human that is."

"Zombies are so hard to write." The pretty girl said. "No dialogue. I thought telling a story from their perspective would be cool."

"Right." Espo said, beginning to regret moving in on this one. "So Colosimo was here the same time you were?"

She nodded. "Did you ever try to think of what you might say if you were undead?"

Espo shook his head. "Never. Thank you for your time."

"So once the evil wizards made duplicates of Princess Amadahl, Conron the Barbarian was in trouble. His sword wouldn't help him, so he had to go to the Sorceress Ki-Lamma, and you know what she wanted from Conron."

"And Colosimo was here…" Kate said quickly, before the woman could go off on another tangent.

"She wants his child. Seven sons by Conron, actually. Say, do you ever do cosplay?"

"Never." Kate lied. "Now about Colosimo?"

"Don't know him. I just started coming here today."

Kate left without another word.

Once back at the precinct, Kate slumped in her chair. The police out on Long Island had been able to confirm that Colosimo had been working at his friend's house. The writers at the Connection had confirmed the times he was there. Between the two, Colosimo had an alibi for almost the entire time that Castle had been missing. She went back to reviewing cases Castle had worked on, trying to find a relative or friend that might want payback from Castle.

"Beckett!"

Kate sat up. She had nodded off. "I'm okay, Espo."

"No you're not. Go home. Tell Alexis and Martha what happened. You're too tired to stay here. You'll just make a mistake and we don't want that, do we?"

Kate was in the elevator before she realized that Esposito had told her to go back to Castle's loft when he'd told her to go home. _It isn't my home. It could have been if_ _I'd just done what I knew was right for me. But all I could do was run away. I can't run away now._

Kate was happy to see that Grivas wasn't at the loft when she got back. Martha waved at her from the kitchen. "You look dreadful, dear. I've made dinner for you. Then you should have a glass of wine and then a nice hot bath and then off to bed. Here!" Martha patted one of the stools by the kitchen island. "Sit."

Kate ate her food, but barely tasted it. The wine did relax her a bit and then Martha led her into Castle's bedroom. "Thank you, Katherine for staying with us. Both Alexis and I have felt ever so much better with you here. Poor Alexis is burying herself in her schoolwork. I had to wake her up just now to get her to go to bed."

"I'm glad that you asked me to stay here, Martha. It would have been harder sleeping alone in my apartment."

Martha squeezed her hand. "This is your home now as well, dear." Martha waited a bit. "You know Richard cares for you a great deal."

"I know. I care for him as well. I hope when this is over we can…"Kate ran out of words.

"You two should have a long talk when this is all over, Katherine."

"We will." Kate stifled a yawn. "Excuse me. I do need that hot bath and a good night's sleep."

Once bathed, Kate decided to sleep in Castle's bed in the nude. She wished that Castle was with her. She imagined making love to him in their bed.

She woke up feeling much better. Finding out that Martha had brewed a cup of gourmet coffee for her and had another cup in a travel mug made her feel even better. It wasn't as good as getting coffee from Castle, but it was good.

She hadn't been at the precinct for ten minutes before the phone rang. "Beckett."

She heard a sharp slapping sound and a muffled moan. She shook her head. "I get an obscene phone call at the precinct." She announced to the bullpen in general. "This is Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. I'm going to trace this phone call, asshole." She motioned to Ryan who was already on his phone, getting the trace.

Next there was a splashing sound. What she heard next made her heart freeze.

"Stop! Please stop." Cried a familiar voice.

"Castle!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Has it ever occurred to anyone that I _do_ own Castle? I thought not. Rating: M, eventually. Time: Before 47 Seconds.

As soon as she heard Castle's voice, she felt a coldness in her gut. She pushed it down. _Calm. Controlled. I'm in total control. His life may depend on this. _"Ryan. Trace this call now!"

Ryan waves and holds up his phone. He's already on it.

Gates walked out of her office. "Is that Mr. Castle I hear?"

Kate nodded. "He's being beaten." She can hear the sickening thuds and hear him cry out. _Calm. In control. He needs me to be rock steady so I'll get him back. Damn! I need him back so badly._

"Detective Esposito, as soon as Ryan traces the call, get a half a dozen uniforms together. We'll go get Mr. Castle back." Gates turns and goes back to her office to grab her sidearm and put on her jacket.

"Got it!" Ryan yells. "On the West Side. The GPS on the phone is working. I know within fifty feet where he is."

Twenty minutes later Beckett and her team, as well as Gates and additional uniforms, were staring at an empty brownstone in a quiet residential neighborhood just down the street from them. Esposito was briefing the team. "The brownstone is unoccupied. It's in the middle a huge court fight. The couple that owns it is going through a bad divorce and the city is after them for some unauthorized remodeling they did. One owner is suing the contractor, the other is suing the city." Espo shook his head. "And their neighbors are suing over something. The guy in the store I talked to wasn't too sure about what. "

"Captain." LT broke in. "The team at the back of the brownstone says that the back door has been busted in. Looks recent."

Gates grimaced and then nodded. "Okay. We go in now. Use the battering ram to knock the door open, then rush inside. We don't want them to have any time…" She suddenly caught sight of Beckett. "…to do anything. Now, lets' go."

The officers raced across the street and up the stairs to the brownstone. The biggest officer swung a twenty pound battering ram and knocked the door completely off the hinges. They poured into the house. As they had previously decided, Kate, Espo and Ryan went to the second floor with another officer. They flung open doors until Ryan found one that was locked. "Door's locked!" He screamed. Javi opened it with one fierce kick. The two men elbowed Kate aside and went in together, weapons drawn.

"Damn!" Espo yelled.

Kate pushed past him. "What is…" She stopped, shocked at what she saw.

"What is it?" Someone yelled from downstairs.

"It's a damned cell phone taped to a two way radio. He isn't here. He's never been here." Ryan replied.

Gates walked in to the room, anger clear on her face. "Everyone out. Get CSU here now. I want them to go over this place from top to bottom. Everybody start canvassing the neighborhood. You know the drill. Someone must have seen something, or better yet, gotten a picture of something."

Kate was starting to shake from a combination of rage, fear and the adrenaline let down. Gates caught Esposito's eye and nodded to Espo and Ryan. The two detectives pulled her into an empty room. "Don't worry, chica, we'll get him back for you."

"I wish I was as sure as you are, Javi." Kate looked down and saw she was still holding her pistol. She slowly put it back in her holster. "They were taunting us. They're torturing him and they wanted us to hear it."

"Beckett, maybe you should go tell Martha and Alexis what happened." Ryan said gently. "We've got this."

Kate pushed all of her emotions down until they disappeared somewhere behind her wall. "No. I'm fine. I need to do this. I couldn't not do this. I'll call them, though." Her voice softened. "Thanks, guys."

Espo put his arm out to stop her. "Beckett, when we catch these guys, you'll need to make a phone call."

"Sure. I'll call Martha and Alexis right away." She said, somewhat puzzled.

"No. You'll have to step outside to make a call. Leave me and Ryan alone with them."

She shook her head vehemently. "No. I will not have you to risking your badges over them. Forget it."

"Beckett…" Ryan began.

"Forget it. That's an order."

That afternoon they were back in the precinct, going over what they had so far. In addition to the 12th Precinct detectives, Agent Grivas had joined them.

Kate finished her briefing. "The canvas turned up nothing so far, although we did get traffic and security cam footage we're scrubbing. But if they came through the back door, there are no cameras anywhere near there, and no neighbors saw anything. We have footage from the two nearest subway stations, but it was during rush hour, so we aren't very confident of seeing anything. Especially since hoodies, baseball caps and sunglasses are a fashion statement now."

Video Tech Tory Ellis took over. "As Detective Beckett said, we're scrubbing the video footage we have and we're going over the recording of Castle's call. We're not hopeful. But we do have something." She turned her laptop around so everyone could see it. "This is the feed we got when Castle's wallet was thrown away. We can't make the license plate, it appears they had something covering it. We can't even tell if it's a New York plate. But we did identify the car as a dark blue, late 90's Honda Accord."

"There's only like a million Accords around." Ryan muttered.

"We did get something, though." Ellis continued. She tapped the screen and a blurry view of the car showed on the screen. "We can't see the driver at all, but look in the center of the windshield. At the top."

Kate saw it at once. "A blue blur." Then I came to her. "A disabled parking pass."

Ellis smiled. "There are still a lot of late 90's Accords around, but those with disabled parking passes will cut the number down to something manageable, we hope. We've already got the DMV records from New York and we're waiting for New Jersey and Connecticut."

Ellis went on. "We've checked the phone and the radio. The radio's serial number shows it was part of a shipment stolen from a loading dock in New Jersey six months ago. We've asked robbery to look into the case and let us know. The phone is a burner phone, bought for cash five months ago at a big box electronics store in the Bronx. The name given for the buyer was U. N. Owen."

"U. N. Owen?" Ryan asked. "Anything on him?"

"Probably not." Ellis replied. "U. N. Owen? Pronounced unknown? And the address is a street in Ridgewood, New Jersey that doesn't exist. But, "She went on, "the store does have a video surveillance system at every check-out counter. They're sending over their footage for the day the phone was sold, but they don't know what time it was and they were having a sale that day, so the place was crowded. But, maybe we'll get lucky."

Esposito spoke up. "I checked the radio. It had an antenna lead going up to the roof. The radio would have a line of sight range of two or three miles. Castle could be anywhere."

The CSU tech spoke next. "We found nothing. We're betting the guy got in, set up the radio and phone, called the precinct and got out the back door as quick as he could."

Gates looked at Kate. "How are you doing on the cases Mr. Castle was involved with? Anyone that might hold a grudge?"

"His first case was the Tisdale murder. Harrison Tisdale is in prison and Johnathan Tisdale passed away several years ago. We can't find anyone who'd want revenge against Castle there. The next is the Sara Manning case. The killer, Chloe Richardson, is in prison. She had a child by Ian Harris. He's never seen his son by her, never contacted her and when the State of New York tried to get child support out of him, he took off. Last seen in Miami. Which proves he's a slimeball, but not likely to go after Castle for helping to bust his girlfriend. Next is the murder of Donny Kendall…"

"I assume you're telling us you have no leads, Detective Beckett?" Gates broke in.

Kate nodded. "Yes, sir." Gates turned to Agent Grivas. "And what do we have from the FBI?"

"The Bureau doesn't feel this is a kidnaping for ransom, and while we will keep our agents at the Castle residence in case there is a call there, we feel that our resources would best be utilized elsewhere. Of course, if the NYPD needs our assistance, we'll be glad to oblige."

After a short speech from Gates to try to raise their morale, the meeting broke up.

"How come the Wicked Witch of the FBI bailed?" Ryan asked. "I thought a case with a nice high profile vic would be a dream for her."

Esposito shook his head. "The best time to nab a kidnapper is when the money is delivered. And once you get the victim back, you can go all out, but…"Espo stopped as he noticed Beckett.

"That's okay, Javi. "She said. "If the kidnappers aren't interested in money, if all you find is a mutilated body, then if you're an ambitious FBI agent, you don't want to be associated with that. Once there's no happy ending, you're out of there."

"Don't say that. Don't even think that, Beckett. We will get Castle back."

"I hope we do." She said quietly.

Beckett want back to her desk and continued reviewing cases Castle had worked on. After reviewing another case, she felt overwhelmed. _Any of these killers could have had a relative or a lover that we never found out about that would want revenge. It'll take months to check every person that might, just might, have a grudge against Castle or the NYPD. And he's out there right now. Being beaten. And I'm sitting here doing nothing!_

"Beckett?"

She looked up to see Ryan standing at her desk. "Yeah. I'll just do another case and then I'll go."

"No." He said with a shake of his head. "You need to rest. Get some sleep."

Kate was suddenly angry. "Sleep? Castle isn't sleeping. He's probably being beaten as we speak. How the hell can I sleep when that's happening to him? How can I? Tell me?" She glared at her friend.

"You can because you're a good cop and you know you can't push yourself like this forever. And you need to think about Martha and Alexis. You called them to let them know what we found. They'll be a wreck by now. They need you, too. Go home, Beckett. Help Martha and Alexis deal with this. We've got this. The whole precinct is on it. People from the swing and midnight shifts are in working on this. We'll get him back."

Kate nodded to Ryan. "Thanks. Tell everyone else thanks, too."

She left the precinct, noticing that Ryan had also referred to Castle's loft as her home. _Please God, if you are there, and I know for a long time I didn't believe You were there, but please let him come back to me. Please give us a chance. Please give me a chance._

As soon as she walked through the door to the loft, Alexis and Martha were hugging her. The two redheads were as worried about how she felt as she was worried about them. Martha took her into the kitchen and put her dinner on a plate for her. "Dear, if you could call when you leave the precinct, we could do a better job of dinner for you."

Kate almost cried. "I'm sorry, Martha. I didn't think. That's so inconsiderate of me. Here you've been…"

Martha pulled her into a hug. "No. We owe you so much. Not just for what you're doing now, but for everything you've done for Richard. You've been a godsend to all of us."

Kate hugged the older woman back and felt Alexis join in the hug. _I've screwed up my relationship with him so badly. Please, please, let me fix it._

She took a forkful of food and then spoke. "I need to tell you what happened after I called today. Although it's not much."

Once again, Kate found herself in Castle's bed. She had almost decided to sleep in the nude, but had found an old tee shirt of his and used that as a night shirt. She snuggled deep in the bed, hugging his pillow to her. All of her fears for the future and all of her regrets from their past came to the surface. Tears began to pour down her cheeks. She pulled the pillow tighter to muffle her sobs. The tears kept falling.

The door opened and Martha came into the room. Kate could see tears in her eyes as well. She put her arms around Kate. "I know, dear. I know. But there will be no tears in this house. We do not worry about the possibilities for failure. They do not exist."

In spite of Martha's brave words, the two women wept in each other's arms.

Finally the tears ceased to fall and Martha looked at Kate. "Katherine, I want to see more of you here in the future." She gently tapped the bed, implying she wanted Kate there with Rick. "I think sometimes you're more than he deserves, but I'm glad you've found each other."

"No. I'm not more than he deserves. But I want to be here too."

Kate slept soundly that night and arrived at the precinct early.

"Beckett!" Ryan called to her. "I was just about to call you. We may have one."

"What?" She asked, her eyes lighting up.

Ryan waved a post-it. "Conrad van Houten."

Beckett frowned. "I don't recognize the name. How is he related to Castle?"

"He probably isn't. But he owns a dark blue 1998 Honda Accord and he has a disabled parking placard. According to the DMV records he's 74 years old and has really bad arthritis. His wife is 72. I can't find any relationship between them and Castle, but a uniform spotted the car and the placard late last night and looked it over on a hunch. He saw what looks like scratches from a slim jim by the driver's side door. It was late, so he didn't want to wake the owner, but he called it in."

"And?" Kate asked.

"We got a team from auto theft out there. The car had been hot-wired. The wires from the ignition were all wrapped up in electrical tape. This could be the car. CSU is on the way. I thought you'd want to do the interrogation."

"Let's go."

The van Houten home was a small, two bedroom house in a neighborhood of similar houses, leftovers from the housing boom after the Second World War. Beckett was happy to see that CSU was already going over the car. Esposito knocked on the door and a small, white haired lady in a beige housecoat and slippers answered.

"Come in. Come in. We've been expecting you. Haven't had this much excitement since…Oh! Since forever. Sit down. Coffee? Tea? I have some home made cookies?"

The three detectives declined and sat on the couch, across from Mr. van Houten. He was a bulky, balding man with a cane across his lap. He smiled at them, but appeared to be in pain.

"Sir, "Kate began, "can you tell us where you were last Tuesday?"

"Oh, sure. We were in Trenton. Trenton, New Jersey, that is. It's our grandson's birthday. Michael. He's thirteen now. A teenager." Mr. van Houten pointed to a picture of a younger family on the mantel. One of the children was undoubtedly the new teenager.

Kate's face fell. "So, the car wasn't here on Tuesday."

"Oh. Sure, the car was here. We weren't. Mama does all of the driving, but she hates going on the freeways. Our son drove up on Monday and took us down. Got back on Wednesday."

"The car was parked out in front of your house on Tuesday?" Ryan asked.

Mr. van Houten nodded. "They didn't build any garages with these places. Got to park on the street."

"How many people knew you were going to be in Trenton last Monday?" Kate asked.

The van Houtens looked at each other. "Everyone, I guess." Mrs. Van Houten said. "We've lived here for forty years. Most of our neighbors have been here that long. Why, the newcomers have been here a good twenty years. We're proud grandparents. We always brag about the kids."

"Did you notice anyone around here that you didn't know? Anyone around the car. Anyone in the neighborhood acting suspicious?" Esposito asked.

"No." They both replied together.

Kate almost smiled at the two replying together, just like her and Castle. _We're like an old married couple already. We will be an old married couple?_

They left the van Houtens' home just as the CSU team was getting ready to leave. The CSU team leader called them over. "Detectives, the inside of the car was scrubbed clean. No fingerprints, no DNA, no fibers, no nothing. The guy did a good job."

"Assuming it's our guy." Kate said, not wanting to get her hopes up.

The CSU tech shook his head. "Steal a car and leave it right back in front of the owners house? A teenager who's joyriding will do that, but they won't clean up after themselves that well. No, this guy did something bad in this car. He still might not be our guy, but I wouldn't bet against it. And, while we did get nothing inside, the outside of the car had prints on it. We'll run them and let you know what we find."

The three detectives walked back into the bullpen, tired and disappointed at finding nothing. As soon as they came in, Gates stuck her head out of her office. "Detective Beckett, will you come into my office, please?"

Something in Gates' tone of voice and on her face sent a shiver through Kate. "Sir, what is it?" 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: You can thank Mr. Marlowe for most of this, 'cause I don't own Castle. Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds

"Sir?" Kate's heart started pounding. She looked around the bullpen, trying to gauge the body language of the detectives. Nothing. She went into Gates' office and sat.

"We've gotten another phone call while you were out, Detective."

"I'm ready to go right now, sir." Kate stood up, only to be waved back down by Gates.

"No need, I'm afraid. It's the same as the last time. The phone call was made to the radio, then out through a cell phone taped to the radio. The radio's serial number shows it's from the same stolen batch as the first radio. We're trying to track down the cell. It's not a burner phone, but as good as these guys have been, I'm guessing that they didn't get stupid all of a sudden and leave us a phone that can be traced back to them."

Kate nodded. _That would be too much to expect. _"Where was the phone and the radio this time, sir?"

"In one of a group of abandoned warehouses over by the Hudson. They'll eventually be torn down and the whole area redeveloped, but there's nothing there now. No traffic cams, no security cams. No neighbors except for a few homeless people, all of whom seem to have been drunk, stoned or passed out during the brief period of time our suspect was there."

"Anything at all, sir?"

Gates shook her head. "I have a team from CSU going over the warehouse with a fine tooth comb. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"What about the phone call itself?" Kate was trying to nerve herself up to listen to another recording of Castle being beaten.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Gates said softly. "There's really nothing there."

Kate nodded vigorously. "Castle and I have been partners for a long time, sir. If he can, he'll try to get a message out to help us. I might be the only one to recognize it. I need to hear his message."

Gates turned on a recorder on her desk.

Kate heard some kind of muffled croak. It wasn't until the second croak that she recognized it as Castle's voice. "Please. Water. Water." That was followed by a sickening thud and a groan from Castle. "Water, please." He moaned. There was the sound of a loud splash followed by a curse from Castle. "Salt water, you bastards." There was another sound that sounded like water being poured out, hopefully into Castle's mouth. Then the thuds and moans began again.

"That's all of the recording." Gates said. "He might be trying to tell us he's being held near water, or salt water, but so much of the city is near salt water, that's not much of a help."

"I'm afraid it isn't." She said, trying to control her emotions. "And it sounded like he was begging for water and they threw salt water on him, then perhaps poured some water on him."

"The little good that we can take from this, Detective, is that he's still alive and they don't appear to want to allow him to die of dehydration."

"Yes, sir." Kate could find very little good to take from that.

"I assume you'll want to stay here and work?" Kate nodded. "Then go to it. We'll get him back."

Kate wished she was as confident as Captain Gates.

Ryan and Espo looked up as Kate came out of Gates' office. "We have something. Maybe."

"Maybe? She said.

"Fingerprints off of van Houten's car. We found four sets that aren't either of the van Houtens. One is the guy who owns the nearest gas station. The beat cop says he's known the guy since they both were kids and doesn't think that he'd have anything to do with Castle's abduction. And there's a perfectly good reason for his prints to be on the car. He always pumps the gas for Mrs. Van Houten on account of her age."

"But we're checking his alibi just the same. "Ryan finished. "We have two kids' prints together on the right hood. They'll be up in a minute. "Ryan checked the files in his hand. "Albert Wolinski and David Haynes. Eighteen years old, busted last year together for minors in possession of alcohol. The other set of prints is from Hernando Cruz, age twenty five. Uniforms talked to his neighbor who said he wasn't at home. Unemployed, lives with his sister. Apparently took his sister on a picnic today. They're waiting for him."

LT stuck his head around the corner. "The two kids are in Interrogation One and Two."

Kate looked at the two detectives. "Any preferences?"

"We'll take Wolinski. Those Poles are hard headed." Ryan said.

"Unlike the Irish?" Espo responded with his best tone of massive disbelief.

"We Irish are firm in our beliefs." Ryan replied with great dignity.

"I'll take Haynes." Kate said, stopping first to check Haynes through the one way glass. _He looks nervous. Good._

She walked in and sat across from the young man. "Do you know why you're here, David?" She asked sharply.

"No, ma'am." He quickly replied.

_Better and better. He's being polite. _"Your fingerprints were found on a car that was used in the kidnapping of my partner. Naturally, I want him back. I want him back badly, and you'd damned well better help me all you can, or you'll be in prison for a long time. Understand?"

His eyes grew big. "Kidnapping! I never kidnapped anyone. Christ, that wasn't what we did."

"So tell me why you and Wolinski did."

Haynes shifted around in his chair. "We know this guy."

_They know a guy? Maybe they are involved._" What kind of a guy?" She demanded.

"A guy who's twenty one. He buys us beer."

Kate silently cursed. _Beer? _She pushed down her disappointment. "So this guy bought you beer?"

"Yeah. He buys a six pack. He gets two cans and we each get two cans."

"And?"

"And? We drink the beer."

"Where did you drink the beer?"

"In front of this guy's house. We can't drink anywhere near our own homes, someone would see us. So we go a couple of blocks away."

"Why in front of the van Houten house?"

He looked confused. "Who?"

"If you're not going to cooperate, I can just call the DA. You're an adult now. That means prison time. Lots of it." Kate was pushing as hard as she could.

"Van Houten. Is he the old guy? Can't walk good? Sits out on his front stoop a lot with his wife?"

Kate nodded. "790 Parkinson. You were there?"

"Yeah. We like to drink there because of the trees."

"The trees?" Kate wasn't following this.

"He has these big trees on either side of where he parks the car. At night, we can see cars coming before they can see us. A car comes by and we drop down behind the car. Nobody sees us drinking beer."

"When were you there?"

"Last Tuesday night."

"Tuesday. And before Tuesday?"

David thought a minute or so. "Maybe a week before that. It was the Monday of the week before last Tuesday."

Kate sighed. "This is very important. What time were you there on Tuesday?"

"Maybe nine, nine thirty to about eleven. Mom and Dad go to bed early, about ten. So if I get back at eleven or after, there's no one up to smell beer on my breath."

"Were you around the van Houten's any other time that Tuesday, and then the week before?"

"No. I was in school, and then at home."

"When you were there, did you see anyone? Anyone at all?"

He shook his head. "No. I mean a couple of cars came by, but we couldn't see the drivers."

"Where were you the rest of the week?" Kate asked quickly.

"At school or at home."

"We'll check, you know."

"That's where I was."

Kate was pretty sure that's what they'd find. She walked out to talk to Ryan and Esposito. After quickly comparing notes, they found that the two stories matched pretty well. Not well enough to have been rehearsed, but believable.

Kate shook her head. "Check with the school and with their families. If they alibi out, let them go. I'm pretty sure they're not involved. Damn it."

"Hey, Beckett." Karpowski called. "A Hernando Cruz is here to see you." She pointed to a tall dark haired man in jeans and a tee shirt standing next to her.

"The uniforms bring him in?" Kate asked.

Karpowski shook her head. "No. His neighbor told him we were looking for him, so he came in on his own."

Kate swore again. "He's either innocent, dumb or he's got the biggest balls in New York." She said quietly.

"I'll interrogate him with you." Esposito said. "In case he has trouble with the language."

Kate nodded and they ushered Cruz into the interrogation room. "Thank you for coming in, Mr. Cruz. To be brief, my partner has been kidnapped and we believe Mr. van Houten's car was used in the kidnapping. Your finger prints were found on the car."

Cruz looked shocked. "What? Kidnapped? I haven't done anything. Why are you blaming me?"

Kate smiled at the man. "We're not accusing you of anything. Do you know how your fingerprints got there?"

Cruz shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you know Mr. van Houten?" Esposito asked.

Cruz shrugged. "I know who he is, and his wife. My parents knew them, but we're not _simpatico_, you know. I mean I don't dislike the guy or anything, but he's an old guy. We don't really have anything in common."

"And you have no idea how your fingerprints got on his car?"

Cruz thought for a moment. "Which side were the prints on?"

"The driver's side." Kate replied. "Why?"

"I run in the morning. Different places, so I don't get bored. Sometimes just around my block, sometimes down to the park and back, sometimes to a local deli where I get coffee and a Danish. It varies. The sidewalks are in lousy shape, so I usually run in the street. Sometimes when a car comes by, I lean against a car so I don't get hit. Sometimes I stop to catch my breath. I don't remember leaning on his car, but I don't remember not leaning on it."

"When did you run by the van Houten's?" Espo asked.

"Tuesday." He replied after thinking for a second.

"What time Tuesday?"

"My sister gets up at four so she can be at work at six. She's a nurse. I get up with her, eat and then I run. There's fewer cars out. So, maybe at five, five thirty."

"Did you see anyone near the car? Anyone at all?" Kate asked.

"No. A couple of cars went by, that's all. I don't usually see anyone. Not that many people out and about walking that early."

"What did you do the rest of the day?"

"I go home, I look for work on the internet. I was laid off my job eighteen months ago. I was a janitor at the local elementary school. I was the last hired, so I was the first fired. There's nothing out there for me. I had a phone interview five months ago and the last in person interview I had was almost a year ago."

"Where were you for the rest of the week?"

Cruz shrugged. "The same. My routine doesn't vary that much. Except today I took my sister on a picnic."

"No one saw you? Any of the days?" Kate asked.

Cruz looked at the floor. "Our house used to belong to our parents. All the neighbors have known us since we were kids. I know they mean well and all, but I just hate seeing them. They always ask how the job hunt is going and they always tell me to keep at it. They say it's not me, it's the economy. But, I just feel like such a damned failure. I go out to run in the morning before anyone else gets up. If I have to go out, like to shop, I go late at night so no one sees me. So, no. No one but my sister has seen me."

Kate made a note to call the sister to check his alibi, then stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Cruz. You can go now."

Kate asked Espo to call the sister and confirm her brother's alibi. She went back to her desk to review more cases she and Castle had worked on.

She remembered to call Martha and tell her she was on her way home. _Even I'm calling Castle's loft my home now. If it only were. If I can only make it my home. My home with the man I so love._

When Kate arrived at the loft, the first thing she noticed was the delicious aroma of food. Then she noticed that the two FBI agents had been replaced by one agent. A much younger man than the other two. At a guess, he wasn't that much older than Alexis, perhaps five years. He was tall, lanky and sandy haired, but was dressed in the FBI agent's uniform of a dark suit, white shirt and conservative striped tie.

"Perfect timing!" Martha called from the kitchen where she and Alexis were busily at work. "Another five minutes and we'll be ready. Tonight it's filet mignon, baked potato and fresh green peas from the farmer's market. And ice cream for dessert, of course. Oh, and Special Agent Dawes will be joining us. He's greatly improved my opinion of the FBI."

Dawes blushed and nodded to Kate. "Evening, ma'am."

"Call me Kate, please." She said with a smile.

"Okay. I'm Tim."

"Tim? " Alexis called from the kitchen. "Can you help by tossing the salad?"

The agent shot to his feet. "Sure thing." Alexis had, it seemed, made a new friend.

After dinner, Kate relaxed with a glass of wine and chatted with Martha. Martha tried to take Kate's mind off of Rick by telling her stories about her acting career. For the most part, Martha succeeded. However, Kate soon started to yawn and put her glass down. "I'm sorry Martha, it's not the company, it's the time. I'm really tired. Will you excuse me?"

"Certainly dear. You don't have to ask, you know. _Mi casa es su casa_.

Kate hoped that was true, even if it really was Rick's _casa_. Once she had cleaned up and removed her makeup, she picked out another of Rick's tee shirts to wear as a night dress. She held it up and inhaled his scent. _If only you were here, Rick. _She pulled it on and got ready to slide into what she already considered to be her side of the bed. There was a soft knock at the door.

"Yes?" She said.

Alexis poked her head into the bedroom. "Can I come in?"

"Certainly. What is it, Alexis?" Kate sat on the bed and patted the space beside her. The young redhead sat down, but not exactly next to Kate.

"I think I have to apologize to you." She waited second and added. "I think."

"Why would you think that?" Kate asked, curious.

Alexis nodded. "Please just let me say my piece, okay? This isn't easy and I'm not sure of what I'm saying. I may be wrong" Kate nodded and Alexis took a deep breath. "I was very angry with you after you got shot. I don't know if you ever saw the footage, but there was a TV news crew at Captain Montgomery's funeral. They caught you as you were shot. My dad saw something and began to move towards you to get you out of the way of the shooter. If he had been a fraction of a second faster, he could have been killed."

"Alexis, I didn't know, but…"

Alexis cut her off. "Please. You said you'd listen." Alexis paused to gather her thoughts. "Dad is an adult. Sort of. I can't stop him from doing dangerous things. Even things that might kill him. But what made me the angriest is that you always seemed to take him so much for granted. Like he'd just naturally always be there whenever you needed him and you didn't have to do a thing in return."

Kate realized that there was a great deal of truth in this and began to cry. Alexis noticed, and put her arm around Kate. "My dad loves you. I think, but I'm not sure, that you love him, too. If I'm wrong, and you don't love him, please tell him and get out of his life so he can get on with his life without endlessly waiting for something from you that's never going to be there. If you do love him, please tell him as well. Please."

Now Alexis was crying and both women held each other. "I love your father, Alexis. I do. I will tell him. I'm so sorry. I know what a mess I've made of things. I intend to make everything up to Castle, I do. But first we have to get him back. I'm doing everything I can to do that."

The two women held each other and cried. Finally, Alexis pulled back. "You'd better get some sleep. You have to find dad."

"Good night, Alexis."

"Good night, Kate. I think you'll be a great member of the family." Alexis smiled. "You _are_ a great member of the family." Alexis left.

Kate slept well and arrived at the precinct early, ready to go.

"Hey, Beckett!" Ryan called to her. "I found something on the security tapes from where the first phone was bought."

Kate hurried into the video room. "Do we have him?"

Ryan shook his head. "I don't know. We've got something that could be important, or not."

"Thanks, Ryan for such an illuminating briefing." Kate said sarcastically.

"Take a look and then you decide. Here we have a man buying a cell phone. From the packaging, it's a burner phone. Paid in cash, too. No way to tell who bought the phone, but we did get a nice look at the buyer." Ryan froze the screen. The buyer was a medium height and muscular. He had even been kind enough to look up into the security camera, giving him a great shot of his face. Ryan went on. "I thought he looked familiar, so I did some checking and got…"He hit a key and a second photo popped up on the video screen. "Francis Grogan. A leg breaker for the Westies. Convictions for armed robbery, and attempted murder. Currently out on parole and working at Finn Rourke's bar, or so they say."

"Why would the Westies grab Castle?" Kate asked.

Esposito stuck his head into the room. "They could have been paid. They have no love for cops, and Castle's close enough to being a cop for them."

Ryan nodded. "The Irish are a tight knit bunch. They may have objected to you killing Dick Coonan instead of letting them do it."

"Bring him in." Kate spat out.

"Based on what? Buying a cell phone isn't illegal. We don't have enough to arrest him and if we ask him politely to drop by the precinct, he'll just laugh. And we don't have enough for a search warrant."

Kate tried to think of a way around the problem. She found one. "Then I'll just have to go talk to Mr. Grogan."

"He won't talk to you. "Ryan said.

"Oh, he'll talk to me all right. One way or another."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: It should come as no surprise to you that I do not own Castle. Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds

Esposito shrugged. "Okay. We're ready to go."

Kate stopped him. "You're not going. I am."

"Alone" Ryan asked, not believing what he'd heard.

"Alone." She confirmed.

"Are you crazy?" Esposito asked. "You can't just stroll into Finn Rourke's bar, which is full of Westies, and have a little chat with this Grogan. You'll end up dead, or worse."

"I can take care of myself." She shot back, getting angry.

"Beckett, I was in combat in Iraq. Believe me, no one can take care of themselves all the time. And this time you need backup."

"I'm giving you a direct order. You two stay at the precinct, and cover for me with Gates." With that, she pushed her way past the two detectives and headed for the elevator.

Once in her car, she carefully checked her service weapon and her backup weapon. Then she drove to the Westies headquarters and parked outside. As she got out of her car she saw a familiar car park near her and two familiar faces get out.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" She demanded. "Didn't you hear what I said?"

Ryan did his best to look confused. "But, we're just going to lunch. I told Espo that they have the best corned beef here and…"A look of understanding lit up his face. "Oh! This place is Finn Rourke's place." He turned to his partner. "Did you know that?"

Espo shook his head. "Completely slipped my mind. I was thinking about that Guinness on tap you mentioned. Sorry, Beckett. Our bad."

"But as long as we're here…" Ryan began.

"You'll stay outside." Kate relented a bit. "Give me ten minutes. If I'm not out by then, come on in."

The two detectives nodded and Kate walked into the bar.

_What luck. _She thought. _Grogan's sitting at the bar, with no one near him._

She walked over to Grogan and stood behind him. She held up her badge so he could see it in the mirror behind the bar. "NYPD, Grogan. Let me see your cell phone."

"You got a warrant?" He asked suspiciously.

"I don't need one."

Grogan laughed. "Like hell. If you've got no warrant, you got nothing. Now get the hell out of here."

Kate drew her pistol and slapped it against the side of his head, then jammed it into his back. "I have a gun. Like I said, I don't need a warrant. So make up your mind. Do I see your phone, or do you see your intestines on the bar floor?"

"You can't do…" Grogan began.

Kate slapped the side of his head with her gun. "Perhaps I could shoot in one ear and out the other? Then collect your phone." Kate said in a conversational voice, even smiling.

"What's going on here?" Barked a voice.

"I'm having a personal chat with Mr. Grogan, Rourke. Sit back down."

"She's got a gun on me, Finn." Grogan said. "Says she'll shoot me if I don't hand over my phone."

Rourke took a step forward and was standing on the other side of Grogan from Kate. "You're that detective who was in here about Jack Coonan."

"You have a good memory. Now move away. This doesn't involve you. Yet." Kate looked around. Early in the morning, there were only a few others in the bar and none of them looked like they were interested in getting involved.

"This is my bar, detective. What happens here is my business. Mr. Grogan is my employee, so it's double my business. Now what in the name of all the saints do you think you're doing, walking in here like you were the bloody RUC, pistol whipping my friend and holding him at gun point?"

Kate took a deep breath and glared at Rourke. "My partner's been kidnapped. We got a phone call of him being tortured. We recovered the phone. It was a burner phone, paid for in cash and using a phony name and address. Absolutely untraceable. But we do know where and when it was bought. We got security videos from the store. Guess who bought a burner phone there that same day and paid cash?"

"That doesn't prove a damned thing!" Grogan snarled.

"Your partner? He's the pretty boy that came in here with you?" Rourke asked.

Kate nodded.

"And you think Grogan, or any of us, have something to do with it?" Rourke said softly, but with menace.

"You Westies hate cops and you love money. It seems like it could be a good fit. I really don't care why, only if you're involved. Show me Grogan's phone and I'm out of here."

"You think you're going to just walk out of here, bitch?" Grogan said.

Kate ground the pistol into his ribs. "Do you think you'll walk out of here?"

"Grogan," Rourke said, "did this cop attack you and threaten your life?"

"Of course she did. You damn well heard her, Finn."

"You're positive of that?"

Kate slid the safety on her sidearm off and took a deep breath.

"Sure, I'm positive, Finn. Bloody hell, man. You were standing right here."

"Francis Grogan, you're drunk or deaf. She asked you politely to see your phone. Hand it over."

"What? I'll do no such thing. I'll not…"

"You'll hand it over or face the consequences. And not from her, from me!" Rourke roared.

Grogan stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone and put it on the bar.

"Empty your pockets." Kate demanded.

Grogan looked first at Finn and then did as he was told. There was no other phone and the phone he had matched the brand seen in the security video.

"The NYPD thanks you for your cooperation." Kate said levelly, although she was shaking inside. She backed towards the door.

"Detective Beckett, isn't it?" Rourke asked.

"Yes."

"I owe you for Dick Coonan. With his money and connections he'd have made a deal and I would have had to have had him killed in prison or chased down in witness protection and killed. You saved me the trouble by putting a bullet in his rotten heart and sending him to hell. But now were even. But I'll tell you this. If anyone of my people is involved in this kidnapping, I'll send you his head."

"That's not the way I do things." Kate knew that was a mistake as soon as she said it.

Rourke roared with laughter. "It seems like that's exactly how you do it. Does your boyfriend know what kind of a girl you are, Beckett. Because he's one lucky fellow."

"He knows me better than I know myself."

Rourke laughed again. "Beckett? You're an Irish lass, are you not?"

"I'm an American." She shot back.

"Ah! If I was forty years younger, Beckett."

"If you were forty years younger I'd still want to put you in prison." Kate could still hear Rourke's laughter as she backed out of the bar.

When she turned around, once back on the street, she saw Ryan and Esposito standing there with their hands underneath their jackets. "You okay?" Ryan asked.

She put her sidearm back in her holster. "I'm fine. And Mr. Grogan was quite cooperative. He had the phone. It wasn't him. Or at least we don't have any evidence it's him, or the Westies. They could still be involved." But she remembered how Finn Rourke had acted. _Now he thinks I'm some cold blooded killer out for revenge. He thinks I'm just like him. But, when I catch whoever has done this to Castle, all they'll have to do is blink wrong and I'll kill them. So maybe Rourke knows more than I thought. I'm positive the Westies aren't involved. But, better safe than sorry._

"What exactly didyoudo in there?" Esposito asked, very curious.

"It'll be better if you don't know."

Esposito shook his head. "It'll be better if we do know. That way we can get our stories straight. If anything comes out, the two of us will already be in trouble for just standing here and not stopping you. IA will have our asses for sure."

Kate thought about that. "I put a gun in Grogan's back and told him he had a choice between handing me his phone or having me take it off of his body."

"Jesus Christ." Ryan crossed himself. "Rourke will go apeshit when he finds out. How the hell are we supposed to help Castle if we're all suspended by IA?"

"Rourke already knows. He was inside and saw what I was doing. But, he apparently feels he owes me for killing Dick Coonan. I saved him the trouble. So he told Grogan to hand his phone over. Actually, I think Rourke was kind of impressed with what I did."

"Impressed, _chica_? He's going to want to hire you."

"I already have a job. Speaking of which, we need to get back to the precinct."

"Actually, we have some place else to go. The second cell phone? We've found who owns it. A guy named Wendell Kim."

"Please tell me that Kim is some gangster and that Castle and I arrested someone close to him."

Epso shook his head. "No such luck. Wendell Kim is a twenty-one year old pre-med student at Columbia. He was mugged and his wallet, watch and cell phone were taken. Happened five months ago."

Kate thought for a second and then nodded. "We keep getting things that happened five or six months ago. That could be significant. Someone got out of jail, or got back in the country, or something. This began six months ago, or at least the planning did." She shook her head in frustration. She was getting nothing.

Wendell Kim looked and acted much like a male version of Alexis Castle. Serious, studious, hard working and very, very smart. His three roommates in his dorm room on the other hand looked more like the Three Stooges, or maybe just three Richard Castles. They sat on the bed opposite from Wendell and the three detectives, eating popcorn and watching everything with rapt fascination.

"Mr. Kim," Kate asked, glaring at the roommates, "would you be more comfortable if we interviewed you alone?"

Kim shook his head. "No. This is just fine."

"Where were you when you were mugged?" Espo asked.

"I was leaving a party in the West Village. Carrie Denman, she's another pre-med student lives there. "

"Had you been drinking?" Ryan asked.

"Why do you ask?" Kim's voice shot up an octave or two.

"Boom!" Cried one of the roommates. "They got you now, Wendy."

Another roommate mimed a slitting of the throat.

"We've got what?" Kate asked.

Kim blushed furiously, so one of the roommates answered for him. "His birthday was two months ago. He was under age and D-R-U-N-K!" He high fived another young man.

"You were drunk?" Ryan asked.

"Um, well…Do I need a lawyer?"

"Mr. Kim. Your stolen phone was used in the kidnapping of my partner. I have no interest in arresting you for under-age drinking. In fact, if you're any help, I'll be happy to buy you a case of beer."

"We'd like to help, too." One of the roommates cried.

"Do you know anything?" Kate asked acidly.

"We don't know. Maybe?"

Kate turned back to Kim. "What time did you leave?"

"Um, Cindy Garver and her boyfriend Fred Gavrilac found me at about two thirty. Everyone said I left about two."

"You don't remember?" Ryan asked.

One of the roommates replied. "He was toilet bowl hugging, worshipping the porcelain goddess, doing the Technicolor yawn, drunk."

"I was drunk." Kim conceded.

"What do you remember?" Kate asked.

"When I reached the street, one guy grabbed my arms and pulled them behind my back and another hit me in the stomach, hard."

"You're sure there were two guys."

"Yes."

"Okay," Ryan said, "what happened next?"

"Um..." Kim blushed.

Kate had a horrible idea. "Mr. Kim. Did these men sexually assault you?"

"NO!" Kim yelled.

"He barfed on the guy!" One of the roommates crowed. "It was epic! It was a gigantic tossing of the cookies! It was projectile vomiting at its finest."

"I thought you weren't there?" Kate glared at the three.

"Cindy called us to take Wendy home. We saw what was left. I mean if he ralphed most of it on the guy who hit him, judging by what he left as pavement pizza, it was epic. Truly epic. I'll regret not being there to see it for the rest of my life."

"The rest of your life might be shorter than you think." Esposito muttered.

"Can you describe either one of them, Mr. Kim?" Kate asked.

"Um, not the guy behind me at all. The guy who hit me might have been black. Or had on black gloves. All I remember was that his hands were black."

"Do you remember anything else that might help you identify them? Did you see or hear a car? Did they say anything? Anything at all."

"The guy swore. I think. Or maybe it was me."

Kate closed her notebook. "Thank you Mr. Kim. Your phone is currently in evidence, but it'll be returned to you when the case is over. However, whoever took it erased everything on your phone."

"So, do we get any beer?" A roommate asked.

"Only if something Mr. Kim says helps solve the case." Kate felt a little happier seeing the roommate's glum expression.

Once outside, the three detectives gathered around Kate's car. "Great! A witness so drunk he's even more unreliable than usual."

Ryan nodded. "Well, we can either look for a black guy or someone with black gloves."

"No reason a black guy can't own a pair of black gloves, bro."

Kate glared at them. "Back to the precinct."

When the arrived there, they found Tory Ellis, the police video tech just dropping something off on Kate's desk. "Hi, Detective Beckett, Ryan, Esposito. Between me and the FBI we've done everything we can think of to the phones and the radios. There's no good news, I'm afraid."

Kate nodded slowly. "There doesn't seem to be any at all on this case. What do you have?"

"CSU confirms that they're all clean. No fingerprints, no DNA, no fibers, no nothing. The radios themselves don't tell us anything. They're just two way transmitters, they have no recording function of any kind. The first phone, the burner was brand new, never been used. The second phone, Mr. Kim's, wasn't new, but everything on it was erased. We managed to recover almost of the content. However, but it's nothing useful. No suspicious phone numbers, photos look like a bunch of students, but you can look them over. There are games and other stuff on the phone, and a lot of porn."

"We can…" Espo began, then saw both Beckett and Ellis glare at him. He changed directions quickly, "…take it from here. Thanks, Tory."

Kate had thought of something. "Is there any violent porn on the phone? Like maybe Kim liked hurting people?"

Ellis shook her head. "Standard, garden variety porn. No violence at all, except for a rather tame spanking clip." She glanced at the two male detectives. "Nothing that Ryan and Esposito don't do all the time."

"Hey, wait a sec…"Ryan began.

"What two consenting adults do is none of our concern," Kate said, smiling for the first time in a long while.

"We also scrubbed the phone calls themselves." Tory continued. "We checked the voice on the phone calls against recordings of Richard Castle's voice from TV program he was on. It's him, and it hasn't been altered or faked. We also tried to isolate other sounds on the recording. There isn't much. We can hear the sound of shoes scraping on the floor. Maybe cement, but it's hard to tell. Maybe some kind of industrial building. But there's nothing else. No traffic sounds, no aircraft overhead, no people, no radios, no nothing. He's either being kept way out in the country someplace or he's in a soundproofed room. We're trying to put together a list of soundproofed rooms in the city, at least commercial ones, but that'll be like the needle in the haystack."

Kate nodded tiredly. "Okay, thanks."

"The guy at the FBI has a few ideas we can try, but I'm not sure it'll do any good. These guys are really careful."

Kate and her team went back to reviewing cases that Castle had been involved in to try to find some connection.

Several hours later she got a phone call. "Beckett."

"Katherine, it's me. We've heard from Richard."

Kate sat up straight. "You heard from Castle?" She waved to Ryan and Espo, who came to her desk. Kate put the phone on speaker.

"A deliveryman brought a little digital recorder to us. We played it. It's Richard and he's being tortured. Oh, Katherine! Why are they doing this to him? To us?"

"Martha, is the delivery guy still there?"

"Yes. Special Agent Dawes kept him here, and he sent a sent a copy of the recording to the FBI."

"Martha, we'll be right over. Could you also have Dawes send a copy of the recording to us? I want our techs to go over it as well. I know the FBI has a lot better equipment than we do, but Ellis knows Castle. Maybe she'll pick on something they'd miss."

"Damned sadists." Esposito said. "I sure hope they try something when we catch them."

"Me too." Ryan added.

"Let's find them first." Kate said.

When the three detectives arrived at Castle's loft, they were met by an obviously distraught Martha. Alexis was sitting by herself on the couch, crying, and Agent Dawes was talking to two older FBI agents.

"Oh, Katherine! I'm so glad you're here." She hugged Kate and started crying again. It was all that Kate could do to not cry, too.

Martha also hugged Ryan and Esposito. "Don't worry, Martha, we'll get Castle back and get these bastards as well."

"You bet." Ryan added.

Alexis ran over to Kate and threw her arms around the older woman. "It's just awful. They're torturing him." She sobbed in Kate's arms.

Kate held the younger redhead for a few minutes, then Alexis pulled away. "I'm sorry, Kate. It's more important that you investigate this than comfort me. Sorry."

Kate smiled at her. "Don't be. I can do both."

The group walked over to Agent Dawes. "The delivery man is a dead end. He has no idea who sent the package. He just picks up the deliveries at the warehouse. He works for FasTrac, a local company. We've sent a team to interview the people who signed in the order. Maybe we'll get something. We've also listened to the recording. Um, "He looked at Martha and Alexis, "do you want to hear it detective?"

Kate nodded. "I do. But Martha and Alexis, there's no need for you to hear it again."

"You're right, Katherine. I'm in no shape to cook. Would everyone like pizza? Ryan, Esposito, you gentlemen?"

The two older FBI agents begged off as they had work to do. Dawes and the two detectives said they would stay for dinner with Kate and the two redheads.

Kate steeled herself as she sat down to listen to the recording. _I can do this. I will not fall apart in front of everyone. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important now than getting Castle back._

Even so, it was all she could do to hold herself together. The recording was some three minutes long. It consisted mostly of the sounds of Castle being hit, him groaning and him begging his captor. "Please. Stop. Stop. I can't take any more. What do you want, dammit!"

When the recording ended she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Espo. "Don't worry, Beckett. We're going to get him back. I promise you."

She nodded shakily. "Don't make any promises you can't keep, Javi." She hated herself for saying that out loud.

"We're not." Ryan assured her.

When the pizza arrived, Alexis was upstairs. When Martha called for her to come down and eat, the young redhead said she wasn't hungry.

"She skipped lunch today." Martha said, deeply concerned. "She should eat. I'll take some up to her. She loves pepperoni and basil."

Kate stood up. "Martha, let me take it to her."

Martha handed her a paper plate with several pizza slices on it." Thank you, dear."

Kate tapped lightly on Alexis' door. "I have pizza for you."

"I'm not hungry."

Kate walked in. Alexis was sitting on her bed, still crying. "Thanks, Kate. But I can't eat, thinking about what Dad's going through."

Kate sat beside her. "I know the feeling. I have it too. But I know I have to be there for Rick. I have to stay strong, so I know I have to eat, although it feels like I'm eating cardboard. But I eat. You need to as well." Kate picked up a slice, "Now eat."

Alexis looked at her, then took the slice and ate it.

"Now another one." Kate said.

Alexis ate all four pieces. "Thanks, Kate. For everything. I don't know what we'd have done without you. Especially after that recording today. That was the worst thing that ever happened to me." Alexis started crying again.

"Would you like me to stay?" Kate asked gently.

Alexis shook her head. "I'd like to try to get some sleep. But thanks."

When Kate went back downstairs, Ryan and Esposito were getting ready to leave. They thanked Martha and told Kate they'd see her tomorrow. Kate decided she had better make an early night of it as well, and got ready for bed. She found another of Rick's tee shirts and was getting into bed when Martha knocked on the door and came in.

"Kate. I want to thank you again. And I want you to know that you're family now, and you always will be."

"Thank you. I just hope Rick feels the same way."

Martha smiled. "That's the least of your worries, kiddo."

Once tucked into bed, Kate wrapped her arms around Rick's pillow, wishing desperately that it was the man she loved. _When we got the phone call, I should have told Rick that I love him. I should have._ She shook her head. _No. That would just give them something else to use on Rick. I have to push my feelings down. I have to be strong. _But_, _once more alone in Rick's bed, she finally lost control and sobbed until she fell asleep.

At breakfast the next morning she got a phone call. She didn't recognize the caller. "Beckett.

"Detective Beckett? This is Pete Reese. I live down the hall from you."

Kate remembered the nice retired teacher and his wife. "Yes, Mr. Reese. What can I do for you?"

"Well, you got a package yesterday. The delivery man left it with me." 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Castle is not mine. Is it yours? Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds.

Kate felt sharp shards of ice form in her stomach. "A package, Mr. Reese?"

"Yeah. It came yesterday. The delivery guy said you didn't answer the door and he didn't want to leave it outside, so I took it."

"Can you describe the package?" Kate asked.

"Sure, I've got it right here." There was a pause and Kate could hear some movement on the other end of the line. "It's about five inches, by three inches by two."

"Is there a return address?"

"Yes there is. A Mr. Owens somewhere in Jersey. The writing is lousy. If one of my old students wrote like this, he'd have never passed."

"Was the delivery company FasTrac?" Kate asked.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Mr. Reese, that package is a part of an investigation I'm running. I'm calling for some uniforms to go there. Please put the package down and don't touch it. Okay?"

"It isn't dangerous, is it?" Reese sounded worried.

"No, it isn't. I'll be there in a few minutes. I'll see you then. Okay?"

After she hung up, Kate called Ryan and Esposito over to her desk. "I just got a call from my neighbor. FasTrac delivered a package to my place yesterday. From the description, I'm betting it's another recording. Ryan, please call the FBI and tell them. Espo, call down to CSU and tell them to get to my place ASAP. I'm heading there now. I'll see you there."

Kate called dispatch and had uniforms sent to her place and drove as fast as she could to her place. _Funny. I don't think of it as home all of a sudden. I never really considered it my home. Home was always my parents' house. Now my home is the loft of the man I love. If I never get Castle back, I'll never have a home again. _She pushed that thought from her mind and concentrated on driving.

Kate was surprised to find three patrol cars parked outside of her building. She went upstairs to find the shift patrol sergeant standing by the elevator door.

"Detective Beckett." The sergeant said, nodding.

"Three cars, Sergeant Gomez? I only asked for one." But she smiled to show she wasn't angry.

"When I heard the call, I figured it was about the Castle case. No one messes with the 12th Precinct, Detective. If they do, we go all out. Anything you need?"

Kate shook her head. "I have the rest of my team on the way. And CSU and the FBI have been notified. Send them along when they get here."

Two uniforms were sitting in the Reese's living room talking to them. The senior patrolman spoke to Beckett. "Not much. They got the package yesterday. Didn't see anyone but the delivery guy. Nothing out of the ordinary about the package." The officer lowered his voice. "Is this a recording of Castle being…?" He didn't finish the sentence.

"Beaten and tortured?" Kate finished for him. "I'm assuming it is. But we'll wait for CSU before opening the thing, just to be on the safe side. They've been very careful so far, so I doubt they've left any fingerprints for us, or DNA, but we can hope."

Kate went over to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Reese and confirmed what the uniform had said. They had seen nothing other than the delivery man. By the time she was done, Ryan and Espo arrived followed shortly by CSU. The FBI had advised Ryan that they wouldn't be sending a team over, but would scrub anything found on the recorder.

The CSU tech carefully opened the package and removed the recorder. "Same kind as the one that came to the loft." Espo muttered.

"Do you want to hear it, Detective?" The tech asked.

Kate took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Yes. Play it."

The recording lasted for about three minutes. This time there was only the sound of Castle being beaten and his moans and groans. He hadn't said a word on this recording.

"He's in bad shape." Espo said, standing close behind her. "He can't even talk anymore. He's in too much pain."

Kate swore under her breath. "Okay, take it back and go over it. And let the team investigating FasTrac know about this one and have them check this one out as well."

Kate and her team headed back to the precinct. Tory Ellis was waiting for them. "We got another two recorders."

"Where did they go to?" Kate asked.

"One came here addressed to Captain Gates, the other went to Gates at her home." Ellis carefully looked around, making sure Gates wasn't around. "You should have heard her." She said quietly.

"What?" Kate was puzzled. What would Gates have said?

"She was on the horn to One PP and to the Feds. She was telling One PP that they should tell the DA's office that there would be no deals of any kind on this one. She wanted all the charges they could bring and she wanted them to go for the maximum penalties. She said more or less the same thing to the Feds." Ellis looked around again. "Beckett, she referred to Castle as one of our own. Told them that no one was going to kidnap a cop from her precinct and get away with it. I wish I'd been able to record it."

"Do you think she's cracking under the pressure?" Espo asked. "Or has she grown a heart?"

Ellis shook her head. "Someone has committed a crime against _her_ precinct. For that, she thinks they should suffer a fate worse than death."

"Sounds good to me." Kate said coldly.

"Anyway, "Ellis went on, "we have some more news for you, and it's not good. The recorder we got yesterday is Chinese made."

"Can you find the local distributor?" Ryan asked quickly.

"There isn't one."

"What? How does that work?" Kate asked.

"The Chinese company is barred from selling in the US because they use prison labor to make a lot of their products. Most of the prisoners are political prisoners as well. Detective Chung dragged his grand- dad in here last night and called the company in China. They were no help. They insisted their workers are all happy, well paid and that they're the victim of jealous rivals. They claim they don't sell anything in the US."

"Like hell!" Kate fumed.

"I talked to a guy I know in customs. "Ellis went on." He says that they haven't heard of this particular company, but they know the scam to get the stuff into the US. The recorders are sent to another country. Maybe in Asia, maybe elsewhere. There it's packaged up as made in that country. So, instead of recorders made in China, they're now made in Indonesia, or Vietnam or Burma, or where ever. The recorders are sent to the US and they're usually distributed by fly by night companies. One man operations who sell to mom and pop stores that can't compete if they sell legitimate products. It'll be damned near impossible to track down where the recorders were bought or by whom."

Kate felt deflated. _Castle is getting near the end of his rope and I have nothing. I have to find him, but how?_

The elevator door opened and Captain Gates stomped towards her office, as she passed Kate she barked, "Beckett. My office."

Kate followed her into the office and stood in front of the captain's desk. "More bad news I'm afraid, Beckett. I've had teams at the FasTrac offices. They stay competitive by being cheap. There are no video cameras in their stores, so we have no pictures of our suspect. He used four separate FasTrac stores, paid cash and gave the name Owen, address illegible in New Jersey. The clerks who handled the four transactions don't remember anything about Mr. Owen. They checked the time stamps on the package receipts. They came in when the stores were busy."

Kate nodded glumly. "Whoever is doing this has planned this out. They're always one step ahead of us."

"Would you sit down, please, detective?" Gates suddenly said.

Kate was surprised and then worried. _Why would Gates want me to sit down?_

"Once I had CSU check the two recorders I received, I listened to them. The one sent to the precinct was only the sound of Mr. Castle being beaten and his moans and groans. I wouldn't recommend that you listen to it. The other one, the one I received at my home, he does say one word."

"What word, Sir." Kate asked.

"Your name. He said, "Kate."

Kate took a deep breath. _I will not lose it. I will not fall apart. When I get Castle back, I'll put my arms around him and hold him, and I'll cry for a week in his arms, but not now. He needs me to be in control. He needs that more than ever. _"Sir, can I hear the recording?"

Gates frowned slightly. "Are you sure you're up to it."

She nodded. "I am right now, sir."

"The original recorder is in CSU, although I'd be surprised if there's anything useful on it. I have a copy here." Gates turned on the recorder on her desk. Kate grimaced when she heard the thuds of the blows that Castle was taking and his moans. Then towards the end of the recording, a single word: "Kate."

"I'm assuming you want to stay on the case?" Gates asked softly.

"Absolutely, sir."

Captain Gates looked at Kate for a long minute, then, "Go to it, Kate."

She walked back to her desk and sat down, not remembering how she got from Gates' office to the desk.

"You okay?" Esposito asked. Ryan was right behind Espo, concern clearly showing on his face.

"No." Kate decided she should tell them what she had heard. "Gates got two tapes. The one that was sent here just had the sound of Castle being beaten and him moaning. The second one was the same until the end. Castle said one word."

"What was it?" Ryan asked.

"He said my name. He said, "Kate.""

"Beckett, he's still alive. And we'll get him back."

She shook her head. "We're no closer to finding him than we were the day he was kidnapped."

The three detectives were interrupted by a uniform that Kate vaguely remembered as being on the graveyard shift. "Detective Beckett?"

"What is it…?"

"Officer Friedland. We may have something for you. Sergeant Gomez, the patrol shift sergeant? He rolled to a fender bender just off Lex. Taxi rear ended some guy. But the crash popped the guy's trunk. Gomez looked inside and there are boxes and boxes of those Chinese made recorders. He checked the serial numbers, and they're in a sequence just after the ones that we've been getting. He figures the guy must be the distributor."

"Where is he?" Kate asked.

"They're bringing him into interrogation now. He's got a record, so I brought his package up." Friedland handed Kate a file folder.

"Thanks." Kate began reading the folder with Ryan and Esposito reading over her shoulder. "Espo, you want to go in with me?"

"Happy to."

Kate walked into the interrogation room followed by Esposito. She sat down, looked at the suspect, then appeared to study the file folder. He was young, mid-twenties or so, dressed in jeans, a heavy metal band tee shirt and an expensive looking leather jacket. "Ivan Pavlovich Rylenko." Kate said coldly. "Do you know why you're here?"

He nodded. "Call me Johnny. I live in America now. What a country! I go to school to become citizen. And that lying son of bitch taxi driver hit me. Not my fault."

Kate tapped the file folder. "For a would-be American you seem to have trouble with our laws. Income tax evasion?"

He smiled. "Big mistake. I pay back taxes and fines. Charges dropped. I have accountant now. Never happen again."

"Assault and battery?" Espo said. "A Mr. Orloff in the Siberian Bar and Grill?"

"I was new to country. In Russia, you don't bother police. Handle things yourself. I know better now. Police are my friends. You are my friends, yes?"

"If we're your friends, perhaps you can tell us about these?" Kate took one of the recorders that had been sent to Gates and placed it on the table.

"I sell. How many you want? I get you best price."

"This was used in the kidnapping." Kate said coldly. "The person who was kidnapped was my partner. If you don't tell me everything you know about this, I will make your life a living hell."

Johnny's smile slipped, but then came back. "Kidnapping? Not me! I am legitimate businessman. I help police."

"Then tell me where you've sold these in the last six months."

"Um…maybe difficult to say." But he quickly recovered. "But I help you all I can."

"Why is this difficult?" Espo said, glaring at the man.

"I have list of regular customers. I give to you." Johnny got his wallet out and took out a folded up piece of paper." Small businesses. Need good, cheap merchandise. I provide. Everybody happy. Everybody makes money."

Kate looked at the list. She counted thirty eight stores. "We'll need the receipts for each store."

Johnny blushed slightly, but kept smiling. "Problem."

"Problem?" Espo growled. "What kind of problem?"

"Some thief break into my car. Steal things. Steal my briefcase with all my records in it."

Kate balled her first in her lap, then relaxed. "Can you give us any idea where you might have sold the recorders with these serial numbers?" She pushed a list across the table,

Johnny looked at the list of serial numbers for a long time.

"Well?" Espo said, impatiently.

"How many have you sold in the last six months?" Kate asked.

"Two hundred in shipment four months ago. Got new shipment one month ago. I still have maybe one hundred unsold."

"You only sold to these stores?" Kate held up the list.

Johnny shook his head. "Sometimes if I see store when I'm driving. I drop in. Make sales pitch. Sometimes I sell, sometimes not."

"Any place else?" Kate asked, getting more and more depressed.

"Sometimes people see recorder. Buy from me."

"What people?" Espo asked.

"People." Johnny shrugged. "Last week, cute black girl come up to me. She's very black but has blonde hair. Very hot. She has tight dress, cut so you can see her…"

"The recorder?" Kate snapped.

"She buy a recorder. Thinks her boyfriend cheat on her, want to hide in his bedroom."

"Who do you get these from? Does he have other salesmen in the Five Boroughs?" Espo asked.

"I buy from Todd. And I'm exclusive agent in New York City. Just me."

"Todd? And where can we find Todd?"

"In Florida, maybe."

"Florida?" Kate said, exasperated. "In Florida?"

"He has car with Florida plates."

"We'll never ID him." Esposito said disgustedly.

"Easy." Johnny said. "He drives Cadillac. Not any Cadillac. He has 1965 Cadillac convertible. Car is cherry. Looks like it just came off line in Detroit. Beautiful car."

"Can't be that many '65 Cads in Florida registered to a Todd. We'll get someone to call the Florida DMV.

Kate nodded. "Espo, have Ryan grab a partner. We'll split the list up. Johnny will come with us and see if he can remember any other stores he's sold to."

"Hey!" Johnny said. "I have business to run."

"Do you have a business license, Johnny?" Kate said acidly.

"Police Johnny's friends. Johnny help."

Hours later, Kate climbed back in her car and sagged against the sat. She looked over at Espo. "I never knew there so many stores in New York run by people who don't speak English."

"Or Spanish." Espo added.

"Or Russian?" Johnny added from the back seat.

"Who's next?" Kate asked.

Espo pulled out the list. "Miriam's Groceries? Off twenty third. What's that like, Johnny?"

"Very nice people. Ethiopians. Little girl speak English as good as me."

Kate groaned, but Johnny went on. "Last time I sell some stuff to store across the street. Also nice people."

"Americans?" Kate said hopefully.

"Bingle…Bargle…Bank…"Johnny mumbled. Then he smiled. "From Bangladesh. They don't speak English as good as me."

"Of course not." Kate said under her breath.

They found themselves in an Ethiopian grocery store talking to a very nice little girl, who did speak excellent English. The problem was, that as soon as her mother found out that they were the police, she suddenly knew nothing about anything.

Kate took the little girl aside and tried to talk to her, but the mother became very upset.

"She probably thinks you're going to haul her daughter off." Espo said.

"Lots of places, police are not as friendly as here. America! What a county." Johnny enthused. "People in lots of places afraid of police. Police either crooks or fascists."

Kate shook her head sadly. "Okay, let's try the place across the street. They're from Bangladesh, you said?"

Johnny nodded. "Can't understand them at all."

Kate walked into the store and flashed her badge. "Are you the owner?"

She was surprised to get a reply in English straight out of Oxford University. "That I am, Detective. Khaled Mosharraf, your servant. How may I be of service to you?"

Kate smiled. "We're looking for someone who bought four of these recorders." Kate pulled one of the recorders out of her pocket and showed it to the owner. "You bought them from this gentleman?" She pointed to Johnny, who smiled at his customer.

"Yes, indeed. I remember them well."

Kate held her breath. Could this be the long hoped for break in the case? "Do you remember who you sold them to?"

"Certainly. I sold all four of them to Mrs. Townsend. She teaches English as a second language in night school at the local high school. She finds that her students do better if they can hear what they say."

"Can you tell us anything about Mrs. Townsend?" Espo asked.

"A very nice lady. She retired as an English teacher some years ago and supplement her income by teaching at the night school."

"Retired?" Kate asked. "For how long?"

Mr. Mosharraf thought for a second. "I believe she turned sixty eight this year. And she retired at sixty if I recall correctly."

As they left the store Kate spoke to Espo. "Check her anyway when we get back to the precinct. Maybe they were stolen or something."

As they got in the car, Kate's phone rang. "Beckett."

"Detective, this is Sergeant Coleman, Narcotics. I'm helping out. I called the Florida DMV and the state police down in Florida. There's one man with the first name of Todd who owns a '65 Cadillac of any sort. Todd McWilliams. The police down there know him. He's a pretty low level crook. Got busted for smuggling cigarettes from low tax states like North Carolina to high tax states like New York. Apparently he likes to skirt the edges of the law."

"How so?" Beckett asked.

"He was caught selling AIDs medicine that hadn't been approved by the FDA. But he was selling it to doctors for AIDs patients. The stuff had been tested in Europe but the FDA had to do their own tests, so it wasn't legal. He got caught but the doctors and the local medical association and AIDs groups bitched so much, the charges were dropped. He was making phony IDs for illegals, but he made driver's licenses from the States of East Texas and New Vermont. Charges were dropped."

"Do we know where he is?"

"Florida boys says he's been off their radar for about a month. Last they heard he was looking to sell fake rhino horn to some Asians."

"Fake rhino horns?" Beckett didn't understand that.

"They're supposed to be an aphrodisiac. The fakes are a lot easier to get in the US than real ones."

"The bottom line is that we don't know where he is?"

"That's it."

"Thanks." Kate hung up her phone.

"Fake rhino horns?" Espo said, shaking his head. Espo looked at Beckett. His boss looked terrible. Bags under her eyes, which were bloodshot. She hadn't gotten enough sleep or enough food, he was sure This case was taking a worse toll on her than any other had. "You need a vacation." He said without thinking.

Her head snapped around and she glared at him. "Are you out of your mind?"

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Not now. When we get Castle back, you two should take a couple of weeks and go lay in the sun on some island. Maybe the Caribbean, or Hawaii. Just the two of you."

"If Castle will go for it." She said.

"Really?" Javier smiled. "Do you think he wouldn't go for it?" He waited a second. "Beckett, everybody knows."

"They do?"

"You and Castle. You love each other. Even Castle's figured it out. I'm beginning to suspect that even Kate Beckett knows it."

Kate blushed and looked away. "Maybe. If we can."

"I'm going to talk to Castle about it. Tell him he absolutely has to take you away for a couple of weeks. Even if Ryan and I have to handcuff the two of you and put you on a plane."

Kate smiled. "It would be nice. A vacation. With him."

Johnny broke in from the back seat. "I have friend. Put whole package together. Airline tickets, hotel, meals. Very cheap."

Before Kate could decline, Espo's phone rang. "Hey. I got an e-mail." He got out his phone and checked his e-mail. "God damn it!" He screamed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Move along, everyone. Nothing to see here. No Castle owners here. Rating: M, eventually. Time: Before 47 Seconds.

Javi turned his cell phone so Beckett could see what was on it. It took her a second to see what the picture was, then she finally lost it. "Damn them. Damn them!" She screamed. She began to shake, and tears began to form in her eyes.

On the small screen was a close up photo of a human foot, covered in bruises, blood, scabs and cuts. The big toe nail appeared to have been torn off.

Javi put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll get him back, Beckett. They're doing this to torture us as well as him. I mean, that's got to be Castle's foot. Be strong, Beckett. He needs us all to be strong."

Beckett nodded. She held out her hands and by pure will, she stopped them from shaking. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'll call the precinct and have CSU meet us there. Can you tell anything from the photo?"

Esposito looked closely at the photo. "Cement floor. Industrial maybe. An old apartment where they tore the tile or linoleum out? There's not much there."

"What about the foot?" She asked. "Is it Castle's?"

He shook his head. "I've never seen his foot. Have you?"

"Never."

"It's gotta be him. No one would send us a photo like this except the bastards who took him."

"Can you tell anything about how bad he's hurt? You had medical training in the Special Forces, right?"

Javi looked at her, then looked away.

"What?" She said sharply. "God damn it! If you know something, Javi, tell me."

"His ankle's broken. You can tell by the way it's all swollen and bruised and bent like that. And it looks like he's putting his full weight on it. Standing on a broken ankle like that, he must be in agony."

Kate could feel the rage building inside her and carefully tamped it down. _Javi's right. I can't lose control now. Later, I'll fall apart completely._

Kate called the precinct and arranged for CSU to be waiting for them. Before she could call Ryan, she got an incoming call. Caller ID said it was Martha.

"Martha? What is it?"

"Katherine…" Martha was unable to go on for a second. "Alexis got an e-mail. From…them. It was horrible."

"Was it a photo of Rick's ankle?"

"No. Why would you think…Oh! You got one, too?"

"Esposito got one on his phone. It was a badly injured ankle. We're assuming it's Castle's."

"Alexis got a photo of his hand. I think the wrist and two fingers are broken. There's blood and bruises and…How can they do that to him?"

"Martha. I need to know. Are you sure it's his hand? It's Castle's?"

"Yes, of course."

"You're positive?"

"Katherine, he's my son. I know my own son's hand." Martha said tartly.

"Okay. I'm going to call Detective Ryan and have him come over and get Alexis' phone. Is Agent Dawes still there?"

"Yes. He's already put the phone in one of those evidence bags you use."

"Fine. Martha, I don't want you to leave the loft for any reason, either you or Alexis. And don't let anyone in that you don't know. And even if you do know them, make sure Agent Dawes is there and ready for anything."

"Do you think they'll come after us?"

"I don't know, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Kate hung up and called Ryan. "Ryan, did you get anything?"

"Nada!"

"We got something. But not what we expected. Espo got an e-mail with a photo of a badly injured foot. Then Martha called and said Alexis got an e-mailed photo of a damaged hand. She says it's Castle's. I'm sure they're both of Castle. I want you to go to the loft and get Alexis' cell phone. We'll see if we can find out where the e-mail was sent from. I have CSU waiting at the precinct. See you there."

Kate headed back to the precinct, stopping briefly to let Johnny off at a subway station. As Kate navigated through traffic, thoughts rushed through her mind. _If I get him back, I'll make sure I don't even see the bastards who did this to him. If I even get close to them, I'll do something I'll regret. I'll just throw my arms around Castle, and spend the rest of my life showing him how much I love him. But if he's dead, they're dead. I'll have nothing left then anyway. I may as well get my revenge. Perhaps I should die as well. _Before she could continue along that line, she had to slam on her brakes for a stop light.

"You okay, Beckett?"

"Sorry, Javi. It's just that the case is really getting to me. I have so many ideas going around in my head, I just don't know…I just really need to find him."

"We will. We will." He said gently.

When they got to the precinct, they were met by every tech they had and a few that were new to Kate. As the techs gathered around, Ellis spoke to Kate. "We have a couple of people from other precincts and a guy from One PP. They're good. Even if this asshole is running his computer from an IP address in Outer Mongolia, we'll track him down."

There was a flurry of activity around both phones and then silence.

"What is it?" Kate asked, fearing the worst.

"That was really easy." Said a plump woman that Kate didn't know.

"Is that bad?" Espo asked.

"Maybe." Someone muttered.

"I know exactly where his computer is. It's at The Phat Phroggy Phantom's."

"What?" Several people, including Kate said at once.

"It used to be a warehouse, a whole city block warehouse, in Upper Manhattan, three stories, I think. It's now a party spot for the tech crowd. It's got bars, bands, dance floors, all the games you ever heard of, food, and free wifi, of course." The plump woman said. "Someone should go over there and check. We'll try to find who the computer belongs to."

"Ryan, Espo, you're with me." Kate turned to go when a familiar face stopped her.

"A uniform might be useful." Officer Ann Hastings said. "I can follow you."

"Thanks."

Once inside The Phat Phroggy Phantom's, Kate felt that a couple of hundred uniforms would have been useful. The place was not just huge, it was jammed and so noisy she could hardly hear herself think. She found a bouncer just inside the door.

"NYPD!" She screamed. "Where's the boss?"

The bouncer smiled and pointed to a metal spiral staircase.

Trying to force their way through a mob of dancers, Kate felt a hand close around one of her boobs. She whirled around and kicked the groper in the balls. Then she held out her shield. "NYPD." She screamed. "You try that again, and I'll put you in jail." By the time she got the last of the sentence out, the young man was gone in the crowd.

"You okay?" Espo screamed, but was barely heard. Kate just nodded.

At the top of the staircase was another bouncer. Kate showed her badge and was directed to an office down a narrow hallway. She walked into the office and was surprised at the peace and quiet once the door shut.

"Can I help you?" Asked a young man.

Kate held up her badge. "Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. I'd like to see the boss."

"That's me. I'm Phroggy."

"You're the boss?" He hardly looked old enough to be drinking.

"Thomas Guidry, street name Phroggy. I'm twenty three years old, Detective. I started my own IT company high school. I sold it to get the money to go to MIT, and started another company. I took that public just after my junior year and then sold it. I bought the club as a hobby. I have another IT company I play with. Now, I'll ask you again: Can I help you."

Kate quickly explained why they were there. "Can you help us?"

Phroggy shook his head. "I don't see how. There are a couple of thousand people here tonight. I can guarantee that every one of them has a computer of some kind. Most will have two. The real hard core people will have more. Lots more. And, if I were committing a crime, I'd send my e-mail and be out of here."

Kate sagged against the wall. _Too damned late again. This can't keep going on like this. Castle can't take this kind of torture forever. Hell, I can't take this forever. I have to do something, but what?_

Luckily, Ann Hastings had an idea. "Do you have a lost and found?"

"Why?" Phroggy asked.

"This guy has left radios and cell phones behind. I'll bet that he dumped his computer as soon as he sent his e-mail."

Phroggy shrugged. "Worth a try." He picked his cell phone up off his desk. "Smooth, did we get anything for lost and found tonight?" After a bit, he hung up. "We always get something. I'll have Aeryn take you to the lost and found.

Aeryn turned out to be a tall, attractive, dark haired woman, dressed all in black leather. She led them back downstairs and through different parts of the club until they got to another office. It was still noisy in the office, but not as bad as outside.

"This is the lost and found." Aeryn said, "Knock yourselves out."

She stood by as the police went through the various computers turned in. They found nothing,

"Damn." Kate said, tiredly.

Just then another young man walked in with a laptop under his arm. "Hi, Aeryn. Go another one, but it's probably a throw away. It's so old, you probably have to shovel coal into it to get it to run."

"May I look at that?" Kate asked. The young man shrugged and handed it over. "Most of what was on it has been deleted." Kate said. She found one file and opened it. "Got you, you bastard." She said with a smile. There were two photos on the hard drive. One of a foot and one of a hand.

"We'll need to take this as evidence." She told Aeryn. "And since you handled this, we'll need your fingerprints to eliminate you as a suspect."

"Bullshit! A suspect in what?" The man said arrogantly.

"The kidnapping and torture of my partner." Kate held up the pictures for him to see. "And if you have anything to do with this, I will personally see to it that you spend the rest of your life in prison."

"Actually, my prints are in the system." He said, in a far more cooperative mood. "Two years ago. Possession of a controlled substance. "He hauled out his wallet. "See, this is me." He held out his driver's license. "Michael Roderick. The address is correct. Ask Aeryn. She has been to my place for a party."

"A lame party." Aeryn said, looking over Kate's shoulder at the license. "He does live there, it's a dump."

"Okay, Michael, but if you rabbit on me, I will track you down."

Espo put his face into Michael's. "We will track you down and you do not want that, _comprende_?"

"Yes."

When Kate and her team got back to the precinct, CSU was waiting for them. Another tech that Kate didn't know took the computer. "From what you've told me, the perp wiped the hard drive of everything except the operating system and such. Anything that might lead us to whoever owned the computer, he got rid of. But, we're a hell of a lot better at finding things than he is at hiding them. We'll let you know what we get."

Kate started to walk away when the tech called her back. "One more thing. We're finished with Esposito and Miss Castle's phones. We got nothing useful. Can you give them back to them?"

Kate nodded.

When she got back to her desk, Espo and Ryan were getting ready to leave. "I got your phone back, Espo. And I got Alexis'. I'll take it to her."

"You going home?"

She nodded. "I'm feeling like a damned quitter, going home when he's out there being tortured, but I know I have to. I can't run 24/7."

Kate arrived back at the loft and gave Alexis back her phone. Alexis looked at her oddly when she got her phone back.

"Can I show you something, Kate?" She said quietly. "In my room? I don't want Grams to hear this right now."

Kate nodded and the young redhead led Kate upstairs. They sat together on Alexis' bed. Alexis ran her hand over the phone, avoiding Kate's eyes. Finally, she spoke. "I called my mom right after we found out dad had been kidnapped."

"What did she say?"

Alexis shook her head. "Not much. She was either drunk or stoned. She wasn't making much sense, and one of the guys she was with wasn't doing any better."

"One of the guys?" Kate did not like the sound of this.

Alexis nodded. "She was having sex with at least three other people there. I could hear another woman in the background. I finally talked to some guy who sounded like he was in pretty good shape and he told me he'd tell Meredith when she…"

"Was able to talk." Kate finished for her.

"But I didn't hear from her. I called repeatedly the next day, and every day since then. All I ever got was her voicemail. But, I got a text from her this morning, before I got the…photo." She held out here phone so Kate could read the text:

_Sorry to hear about Rick. Don't worry, he'll be okay. I'll be shooting on location where there's no cell phone service, but we'll talk in a week. We'll go shopping next time I'm in NY. _

"Kate, my dad is all that I have! What'll I do without him? He's raised me. He's been my only parent. Oh, I know I have Grams, but she can't be here like he always was and mom…" Alexis began to cry. "Why is she like that? What's wrong with me that she doesn't care about me, or dad? Why is she like that to me?"

Kate wrapped her arms around the girl and held her tight. "Alexis, there is nothing wrong with you. You are the best daughter anyone could ever want. The problem is with…Meredith." Kate found that she couldn't bear to call Meredith Alexis' mom. "She's a selfish, self-centered bitch who has a biological connection to you. That's all. Believe me, sweetie, she doesn't deserve you."

Alexis sniffed. "Thanks. But what'll I do if I lose Dad?"

"We're going to get him back. I promise."

Alexis pulled away from Kate. "You can't promise that. You have no idea where he is. He could be dead by now."

Kate pulled Alexis to her. "Alexis, I know your dad is alive. I feel it. And my police training tells me he's alive. No one would keep him alive this long only to kill him. They've kept him alive because they want him alive for some reason. We just have to find out what the reason is. You have to believe."

"You sound more like Dad than Kate." Alexis put her head back on Kate's shoulder.

"Maybe I do. Maybe some of Castle is rubbing off on me."

Alexis shook her head. "Kate, I just don't know what I'd do without him. I don't know how I'd manage. He's been my whole life."

"You have Martha." Kate wasn't sure if she should, but she added. "And you have me."

"If we get Dad back, I'm pretty sure you'll be my new mom. I'd like that."

"I'd like that too." Kate smiled.

"Actually, you're more of a mom to me right now than…her." Alexis didn't want to even say Meredith's name. "You're here comforting me and she's off, being…herself." She rested her head on Kate's shoulder. "Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome."

Alexis looked at her watch. "Oh my god. I've kept you up too late. You have to get up early tomorrow and get to work."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay alone?" Kate asked seriously.

"I'll be fine…Mom."

"Okay, sleep tight." She waited a second and added. "Daughter."

When Kate got back to the living room, she found Martha sitting there. "I assume that was about Meredith."

"How did you know?"

Martha shook her head. "I know Alexis. She would have called Meredith. And I know Meredith. If she had any intention of being here, she'd have arrived already in a blaze of publicity, ready to be the center of attention. Since she's not here, the bitch doesn't care about either Richard or Alexis."

Kate say down next to the older woman. "I'm afraid that's about what happened." Kate took a deep breath. _I'm not sure I should be making promises to Alexis, but I need to tell Martha what I've done. _"Martha, when we talked about Meredith and Rick and everything that's happened, I told her I'd always be there for her, not matter what happens. She said I was more like a mom than her real mom. She even called me Mom."

"Of course she did, dear, you _are_ her real mom. You don't think Meredith is a real anything, do you?"

Kate laughed. "I could say that she's a lot of real things."

Martha nodded. "So could I, but we're ladies, so we won't. And now, you need to get some sleep."

Kate quickly got ready for bed. When she came out of the bathroom, she decided she'd sleep in the nude, rather than borrow another of Rick's tee shirts. She slid under the covers, and grabbed the other pillow and pulled it to her.

_I need him so desperately. Not just as a lover, but as my partner, my best friend, my lover, and the man I want to spend the rest of my life with._

Not for the first time, Kate imagined what it would be like to have Castle make love to her. Not surprisingly, she felt her nipples getting hard and she also was getting wet. She moved one hand to her nipple and gently tweaked it. _Yes, Rick. Stroke them, squeeze them, pinch them, they're yours to do as you please with. _She moved her hand from one boob to the other, teasing herself and thinking of Rick.

Her hand slid down and she slid one finger inside herself, finding herself wet and very hot. _That's what I need, lover. That's where I need you. _

Kate slid another finger inside of her and began slowly moving them in and out. She used her thumb to stroke her clit. Her other hand worked on her boobs, first one, then the other. She stroked them gently and then she squeezed them hard. _I need this from you so badly, Rick. More than anything from any other man. I'd rather have a kiss on the cheek from you than sex with any other man. But you know I want more than a kiss on the cheek, don't you, lover? I want to do everything with you. Absolutely everything._

Kate thrust her fingers inside of her much harder now and rubbed her clit frantically. She began to moan and to avoid anyone hearing her, she turned onto her stomach and buried her face in the pillow. She thrust herself down onto her fingers until she achieved orgasm and then lay there, panting, still filled with an intense longing and need.

_When you come back to me my dear, sweet lover, we'll do this endlessly. I'll show you in so many ways how much I love you. And not just in bed. You are the center of my life now. Nothing, nothing is as important to me as you are. _


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: See the Castle below? I own none of it. Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds.

Kate felt better when she arrived at the precinct the next morning. She found Ryan and Esposito waiting at her desk.

"We have good news and bad news." Espo said.

Kate sighed. "Haven't we done this before?"

Espo shrugged. "Turns out the program our perp used to wipe the hard drive was a cheap, economy model. CSU had no trouble recovering the data on the hard drive."

"I can't wait for the bad news."

Espo turned the screen of his computer around so Kate could see what was on it. Kate saw a photo of a young woman. "Any idea who she is?"

"Elizabeth Mardikian. Age 20, a student at Hudson University. Pre-med major. We got her address off of the computer. She lives on campus."

"Any connection to Castle?" Kate couldn't imagine this young woman kidnapping Castle.

Ryan smiled. "No. But her parents have an extensive police record."

Kate smiled wolfishly. "Damn. This may be our break at last."

"Probably not." Ryan said, still smiling. "Her parents were first arrested at a demonstration against the War in Vietnam when they were in high school. Since then, they've been demonstrating for or against just about everything that there is to demonstrate for or against, and getting arrested for it. They're both professors at Hudson. He's in sociology, she's in English literature."

Espo took over. "And I talked to some of the officers involved in the demonstrations. They described the Mardikians as non-violent, peaceful and friendly. Dave Kraft, over at the Three Deuce said that the last time he arrested them, he showed them pictures of his new baby daughter in the back patrol car as he took them in."

"Shit." Was all Kate could say.

"We're checking to see if anyone connected with the Mardikians could have a grudge against Castle. We should be ready to go interview them after lunch. I'm still curious as to how Elizabeth's computer ended up where it did. Maybe they can tell us something." Espo finished.

"In the meantime, you have someone waiting for you in the break room." Ryan's smile widened.

"Who?" _Anyone waiting for me in the break room couldn't be a suspect. Oh, please god, not Meredith! I couldn't stand having that bitch here._

Ryan's reply relieved her mind. "Paula Haas, Castle's agent. Apparently she'd been going over every one of the letters to Castle that were threatening. Apparently she didn't know that was our job."

Kate nodded. "On the other hand, she knows Castle. She might have picked up something we'd have missed."

Kate took a look into the break room before she went in. Paula was somewhat older than Kate, but still very attractive, shorter than Kate, but more curvaceous. She was dressed in a business suit that was tighter than you would normally have seen, and it showed more cleavage and leg.

Kate walked in. "Ms. Haas. Thank you for coming in."

Paula stood up and held out her hand. "Please, call me Paula."

She took the proffered hand. "Okay, if you'll call me Kate. Would you like some coffee?"

Paula nodded and Kate brewed two cups.

"Now, how can I help you?"

"I hope I can help you, Kate. I've been going over all of the letters that Rick's gotten over the last year that contain threats of some sort. We don't keep that kind of mail for over a year. Actually, except for some letters that Rick particularly likes, we don't keep anything over a year. Sorry."

"Please, Paula. Don't apologize. You've done more than we would have expected. But, what do you have?"

"I wrote down the names and whatever other identifying information the letters had. I've divided them into categories."

"Categories?' Kate asked. _What kind of categories could you have in threatening letters?_

"The first category are the grammar Nazis. You'd be surprised how worked up someone can get if you split an infinitive or dangle a participle."

"That's not even a misdemeanor in New York." Kate managed a smile.

"Next are the nit pickers. The first name is a guy who wrote two pages of single spaced typewritten complaints about a scene set in Beirut. He was especially upset that Castle had indicated that you could see the Mediterranean from the main bar in the Phoenecia Hotel. It seems you can't see it. The rest are in a similar vein."

"People really care about that?" Kate asked.

"Passionately." Paula said. "It takes all kinds."

"Next are the politically correct. People who feel that Derek Storm or Nikki Heat promote male chauvinism, or glorify violence, or promote the interests of the "pig fascist capitalist elitist CIA." To quote one unhappy reader."

"Next are the nut cases. People who claim Rick is part of a vast conspiracy to turn this country over to gay, vegetarian, rap musicians and lead us to our doom. Or other bizarre things."

"Lastly, there are people who are just very coldly angry at Rick for some reason. The other groups don't sound like they could abduct newborn kitten, but these people are well spoken, educated and probably psychotic. I have all the files at my office. If you need to look at them, just let me know." Paula handed the list to Kate.

"Paula, thank you for doing all of this. We'll check these people out. You've been a help." Kate started to get up, but Paula stopped her.

"Kate, there are two more things. First, I need to apologize to you."

Kate was mystified. "Why would you need to apologize to me?"

"I was furious with Rick when he killed off Derek Storm. When he started shadowing you and started the Nikki Heat books, I wasn't happy. I thought he was just chasing you and ignoring his writing. I was wrong. The Nikki Heat books are the best he's ever written. I said a lot of nasty things about you and I'd like to apologize for every word I said."

Paula looked at Kate seriously. "And you've been good for him. He's a much better person now that he's been with you. I hope you two stay together. I know he wants to."

"I do, too. But we have to get him back."

"The second thing is his ex-wife, Gina."

"Gina? Certainly you don't think she's involved in his kidnapping, do you?"

Paula shook her head. "No, but I've been after her to give me some threatening letters she has at Black Pawn. I know that she has them, and she's been putting me off. I've told her that she should send them to you, but you're not…"

"Gina's favorite person." Kate finished. "But I should go see her."

"Yeah. I'd like to go with you, if that's okay. I know Gina. I can push her buttons where you can't. And I can threaten her where you can't."

_Now I have Rick's agent as a partner? This is odd. _

Esposito stuck his head into the break room. "Beckett? We just got a call from campus security over at Hudson U. All three Mardikians are there and they're willing to talk to us. Do you want to go now?"

Kate turned to Paula. "Can we do this later? See Gina, I mean? Maybe this afternoon?"

"Sure" Paula handed Kate her business card. "Call me. Any time."

When Paula had left, Espo looked at Kate. "Gina? His ex-wife? You don't think that she has anything to do with this, do you?"

Kate shook her head. "No! But I think that Gina may be a poor loser. She may be withholding evidence out of spite. Paula has offered to go with me when I see her. Apparently she thinks she can be of help. And, Paula may know where some of the bodies are buried, so to speak." Kate shuddered slightly. _Where did that come from? I can't think like that. I just can't. There are no bodies buried. Not Castle's anyway. I will get him back and we will live happily ever after._

The three detectives met in Professor George Mardikian's office at Hudson University. Kate was reminded of the offices of some of her professors at Stanford. It was filled with books, student's papers and framed diplomas. Mardikian was everyone's image of a college professor. Rumpled, precise, fussy even, and very polite. His wife looked more like someone's grandmother, grey haired and friendly. Their daughter was the only one who looked worried. She shifted in her chair constantly and fidgeted with her hands.

"Thank you for meeting with us." Kate said when they were seated.

"Am I in some kind of trouble?" Elizabeth blurted out.

"I don't think so." Kate said, maintaining a friendly tone. "A laptop of yours was used to send the police two pictures. My partner has been kidnapped and is being tortured." She turned on the laptop and showed the Mardikians the two photos of Rick.

All three were clearly shocked.

"That's my old laptop." Elizabeth said quickly. She reached into a backpack at her feet and pulled out a new laptop. "See?"

"What happened to the old one?" Ryan asked.

"I donated it to the New York City school district. About eight months ago. I swear! I don't know anything about that." She pointed to the pictures.

"Do any of you know a Richard Castle?" Esposito asked.

George Mardikian nodded. "Yes! Castle. He's the professor at Rutgers who wrote that awful review of your paper on the post imperial novel, isn't he, dear?"

Mrs. Mardikian shook her head slowly, "No dearest. That was Professor Kessel." She turned to Kate. "I'm afraid we don't know many policemen, dear. Except for that very nice Officer Kraft. Oh, do you know how his little girl is doing? Why, she must be walking by now."

"Mr. Castle is a novelist, but he's embedded with my homicide team." Kate replied. "And I'm sure Officer Kraft's daughter is fine."

"Castle?" Mrs. Mardikian frowned and stared at the ceiling. "A novelist, you say? I don't recall any…What has he written?"

"Derek Storm novels. The Nikki Heat novels. He writes mystery novels." Kate said, sure they were getting nowhere.

"Mystery novels? I did read a lot of Sjowall and Wahloo, they're Swedes you know, when I was much younger. That was in the early 70s, but no, nothing recently. A policeman who writes mysteries. He must be very busy."

Kate found out exactly where Elizabeth had gone to donate her old laptop and thanked the Mardikians for their help. As soon as they were out of the building, she called the school district office to try to track down what had happened to the donated computer. Two hours of playing phone tag with different departments finally brought them to a warehouse in Brooklyn and Amos Fast. Fast was a middle aged man in a cheap suit with a bad attitude and bad breath.

"I don't see how I can help you, detectives. Look at this place. Will you just look at it?"

Through the open door of his office, the detectives could see boxes full of text books, old desks stacked one atop the other, office supplies, and all the impedimenta of a gigantic school district.

Kate tried to be polite. "Was this laptop donated to you?" She held out the laptop.

Fast shrugged. "Lemme see it." He said resignedly, but copying down the serial number. He turned around and started working on an old computer behind him. He fooled with it for almost a half an hour as Kate fumed. Finally he turned around. "Yup. Got it. Donated by an Elizabeth Mardikian eight months ago. According to the records, it's in Bin 58 in Section 22, all the way in the back of the warehouse, left hand side."

"It's obviously right here." Kate said, trying not to lose her temper.

Fast looked at it and nodded. "Yup. Right there."

"Can you explain that, sir?" Ryan asked, politely, seeing how aggravated Kate was getting.

"Sure. Someone took it."

"Someone just took it out of here?" Ryan said with a smile.

"We've had budget cuts for the last couple of years, Detective. This is a school district, so they lay off teachers last. I lost my last security guard a year ago. That's the same time we turned off the security cameras. Nobody to look at the tapes, no money to pay the electrical for them. I only got half the people I should have working here. So, people can just walk in and take stuff. Not my fault. Nothing I can do about it."

"Did you report the theft?" Kate asked through gritted teeth.

"Nope. First I knew about it was when you walked in with the laptop just now. How could I report it if I didn't know about it? How could I, I ask you? Sometimes we catch people in here stealing stuff, but I only got so many people. Had some girl, teenager, in here last week. Grabbed a laptop and walked out with it. Jimmy yelled at her and ran after her. She pulled a damned knife on him. How can I stop things like that? It ain't possible, I tell you."

"Do you mind if we interview your people?" Kate asked, feeling it would do no good, but feeling she had to try. _I'm getting nowhere and he's being tortured. I don't know how much more of this I can take. Worse, I don't know how much more of this he can take._

The three detectives interviewed eight warehouse workers all of whom were equally sure that nothing was their fault and that there was nothing they could have done. None of them had any idea who might have stolen the laptop.

When the three got back to the precinct, Kate found Paula Haas waiting for her with a grim look on her face.

"Paula, why are you back? Did you find something?"

"All I found is someone who needs a kick in the ass." Noting Ryan and Esposito's smile, she added. "Not that I would assault someone. That'd be a crime right? If I was going to commit a crime, I'd have to make sure you people weren't around. Or looking the other way at least."

"Can you just tell me what happened?" Kate asked sympathetically.

"I called Gina. You know, to give her one last chance." Paula looked at the three and blushed. "She told me…to go forth and multiply, by myself. Although not in those exact words."

Kate nodded. "Paula, I think we should have a late lunch and then the four of us can go see Ms. Cowell. Have you ever eaten at a cop place? It's Remy's. You'll like it, I'm sure. And it's on us."

After lunch, the four of them drove to the offices of Black Pawn. Kate stopped in front of the receptionist. "We're here to see Ms. Cowell."

The receptionist smiled professionally. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No. I have a badge." Kate and the two detectives showed their badges and walked past the receptionist, who got on the office intercom to warn Gina.

"What do you want?" Gina snarled as the four came into her office.

Kate decided to be as polite as she could. She wouldn't put Castle in any more danger by losing her temper. "We understand that you have some evidence that might be relevant to the kidnapping of Richard Castle. I'd think with one of your most profitable authors missing, you'd be more interested in helping the police."

"We have lots of good authors here at Black Pawn. Richard Castle is nothing special." She said with a cold smile.

"You didn't always think that way, did you, Gina?" Paula spoke up.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"What you should be doing. Helping the police and looking after the interests of my client. You have letters that might tell us who kidnapped Rick. Are you going to hand them over?"

Gina smiled nastily. "The operative word there is "might". This is a business and I can't spend all day looking for documents you think might be here, and might be of use. If you want a particular document, get a search warrant. Your search warrant will have to identify the documents you're looking for. If you think you're going to get a search warrant for a fishing expedition, I don't think you understand the law. I've been talking to our lawyers, though, so I do."

Kate was nearly at her breaking point. "Ms. Cowell, I don't think you know…"

"I know a slut with a badge, when I see one." She snapped.

Paula laughed. "Now we're getting someplace. Gina had Rick and lost him. Then she had him again and lost him again. She didn't even make it into one of his novels. That must really grind on you."

Gina stared at Paula with hatred in her eyes. "And I know a Brooklyn slut when I see one. I hope your little fling with him was worth the chapter you got. At least I got more than one night. That's all he could manage with you."

"At least we parted friends, Gina." Paula smiled evilly. "There was a most interesting story going around about the time you were with Rick in the Hamptons. What was it…?"

"Don't you dare!" Gina screamed. "I'll sue you for slander!"

Paula laughed. "I heard it from Nancy Brooks, so all I'm doing is repeating what she told me. If you want to sue the most powerful literary lawyer in New York, be my guest."

Gina's mouth moved, but nothing came out.

Paula went on. "They were sleeping together in the Hamptons. Rick was mumbling in his sleep. She reached over and found he had an erection. Naturally, she stroked him. And he said a name. Would you care to guess whose name it was? I'll give you a hint. It wasn't Gina."

Gina lost her temper. "It was Kate! The bastard was calling out for his little slut cop while he was in bed with me."

Kate was getting very tired of Gina, but she had to try to get through to her. "Ms. Cowell, Castle and I have never slept together. We aren't…"

"Get out!" Gina yelled. "I've told you what you need to get any documents from me. Now get out of here and come back with a search warrant or I'll sue you for harassment."

"That'll go in the press release." Paula said happily. "Gina Cowell, of Black Pawn publishing, has refused to assist the police in their inquiries into the kidnapping of famed author Richard Castle, who police say is being tortured by his abductors. Could her failed marriage to Castle and a failed reconciliation be behind her decision?"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Of course I'd dare. I know lawyers too. Lawyers who can interpret the slander and libel laws. I don't imagine the CEO of Black Pawn will be too happy with that little press release. Nor will the board of directors, or the stockholders. I imagine Castle's fans will be upset. And how about those other authors of Black Pawn's? They'll wonder about how much they really mean to their publisher. I think I'm really going to enjoy this." Paula turned to Kate. "Don't you think daily updates are in order from here on in?"

Kate nodded. "And special bulletins if needed."

Gina grabbed her coat. "Jennifer!" She yelled. "Give these people the letters to Castle that we have. I'm going home. And have my office fumigated by tomorrow morning." She stomped out of her office and out of the door.

"Ms. Haas?" Jennifer called. "I have the letters right here. There are three banker's boxes of them. Ms. Cowell told me not to sort them, but you may find the ones with red check marks on them are the threatening ones. The rest are fan letters. I have no idea how those check marks got there. I'd certainly never disobey my boss."

"Of course not." Paula said. "And if you ever need a job, come see me. I can use someone like you." Paula handed her a business card.

Jennifer smiled. "Can I call you tomorrow?"

"Absolutley."

Once back at the precinct, the three detectives began to go through the files from Black Pawn. Once through the threats, they began on the other fan mail, just to be sure.

Kate looked at her watch. It was late. She should go home. Then she noticed an odd expression on Ryan's face. He seemed interested in a letter. "Ryan? Did you find something?"

He quickly put the letter down. "No. Nothing. Nothing at all."

Kate stood up and walked to his desk. "Well, let me see it."

Ryan put his hands over the letter. "Beckett! It's from a woman. She's telling Castle what she wants to do to him. And she sent photos."

Kate pushed Ryan's hands aside and looked at the photos and read part of the letter. "Ryan, once we work through these, shred those. And then burn them. And crush the ashes. Castle does not need to see that."

"And she's nowhere near as attractive as you are." Ryan said quickly.

Kate went back to her desk and took out her cell phone to call Martha to let her know she was on her way. Before she could, the phone rang. She checked the screen, but there was no caller ID.

"Beckett."

She heard nothing, then heavy breathing then, "Beckett?"

"Castle?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Let me see? What was it I don't own? Lord of the Rings? Breaking Bad? Castle? Yes! All of them. Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds.

"Castle is that you?" She yelled, waving to Ryan who grabbed his phone.

"Me." His voice was so low she could hardly hear it.

"Where are you?"

"Don't…know."

"Are you okay?"

"Hurt…bad."

She felt her heart begin to break. "Are the people who took you around?"

There was no reply for several long seconds. "Alone. Parking garage…..White truck. Hurt."

"I've got him!" Ryan yelled. "The GPS on his phone is working. South east corner of 18th and Lex. And it is a parking garage." He and Esposito grabbed their coats and looked at Kate.

"Castle, we're coming for you. We know where you are, but stay on the phone. I'm coming for you."

Kate raced to her Crown Vic and raced through the darkened streets of Manhattan, beating her two partners by several blocks. She started going up the ramp of the parking garage, looking for a white truck. "There" She yelled and slammed on the brakes. She ran to the truck and began searching madly for Castle. There was no sign of him. _Please don't let this be another trick by those sadistic bastards. Please._

She spoke into her phone. "Castle can you hear me? Are you there?"

"Yeah." He could just barely whisper.

"I'm going to turn on the siren. Tell me if you can hear it." She let the siren blast for a few seconds.

"Close." He muttered.

She got back in the car and turned a corner. There was another white truck. She slammed on her brakes again and ran to the truck. There was something in front of the truck.

"Castle!" She screamed and ran to him.

He was lying on one side, facing away from her. She turned him over on his back so she could examine him. He screamed in pain.

"Castle. I'm so sorry." She knelt beside him.

"…'M not." He mumbled, "Good to see you."

Castle was naked. He was covered in bruises, cuts, scabs, blood, dirt and feces. She could hear a car coming up the ramp. "Espo! Ryan! Over here!" She screamed.

Beckett checked Castle from head to toe. Both eyes were blackened and swollen nearly shut. His nose appeared to be broken. When he spoke she could see that at least one front tooth had been knocked out. She thought a shoulder might be dislocated and both his wrists seemed broken. His torso was one massive bruise. The bruising went down his legs. She was sure that both ankles were broken.

She heard a car stop and turned to see Esposito and Ryan hurrying to her. "Where the hell is the ambulance?"

"It's on its way." Javier and Ryan stopped and looked down at Castle. "Jesus." Espo muttered. Ryan crossed himself.

Kate knelt down by Castle again, gently putting her hand on his arm, afraid to do anything else that might hurt him. "We're here. You'll be fine."

He gave her a gap toothed smile. "I feel better already."

"Me too."

"Beckett." He whispered. "Sorry. I never got a look at them. Didn't hear anything either."

"Castle, don't you dare apologize." She could feel tears forming in her eyes and blinked them away. _Not yet. I can't fall apart yet. Once he's in the hospital and I'm alone, I'll fall apart._

She heard a siren in the distance, coming closer.

"That's them." Ryan said. "They say they're four minutes out."

The four minutes passed like four days for Kate, but finally the ambulance arrived. The paramedics jumped out and ran to the detectives.

"Crap! What happened to him?"

"He's my partner. He was kidnapped and tortured."

The paramedic looked up at Kate, who had moved aside. "Don't worry, detective. We'll take good care of him."

"I'm going with him." Kate said.

The paramedic looked up, then nodded. "He's your partner? Sure. Happy to have you along."

Kate turned to Espo. "Call Martha and Alexis and tell them we've found him and that he's alive but badly injured. They can meet me at the hospital. Then get CSU out here. Go over the parking garage, canvass the area, check all of the traffic and security cams, see if there's anyone who saw anything, check for the homeless…"

Espo put his hand on her arm. "We know what to do. He's our partner, too. They're getting ready to load him in. He's on the gurney now. You take care of him. We'll do the rest."

Kate climbed into the back of the ambulance and moved as far from Castle as she could to allow the two paramedics to work on him.

"Detective?" One paramedic said. "We have him on oxygen and we started a saline drip since it looks like he's dehydrated. We gave him a sedative, so he's pretty much out of it right now. But, his vitals are pretty good considering. Your partner is one tough son of a bitch."

"He's a lot more than that." She said softly. _I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me. He'll be okay, I'll tell him how I feel and we'll be happy. I'll never need to tell him I lied to him about not remembering anything at the cemetery. No! I can't lie to him. So many of our problems were caused by my inability to tell him how I really felt about him. To tell him what I needed. But I don't need to tell him immediately. It can wait._

"Almost there, Detective." The paramedic called.

Kate craned her head around and looked out of the front window of the ambulance. She saw the red neon sign that said "Emergency" as they shot past it. The ambulance came to a sudden stop and the doors opened. Kate jumped out to give the crew room to get Castle out. She flashed her badge to the medical personnel who were rushing out to the ambulance and then followed them inside. She kept walking with Castle who was being rolled on the gurney. Finally she was stopped by a nurse.

"This is as far as you go, Detective. We'll take it from here. You can go home now. You look like you've had a long, difficult night."

Kate shook her head determinedly. "I'm not going anywhere for a while. He's my partner."

The nurse nodded. "Okay. Tell you what. Go to the nurses' station to your left and wait. You can probably get some coffee there. I'll come and talk to you when we know more."

Kate found the nurses' station and got a paper cup full of coffee that tasted worse than battery acid with monkey pee in it. She drank it anyway, needing to stay alert and awake.

A half an hour after she arrived at the hospital, Martha and Alexis came in. The two redheads ran to Kate and they were enveloped in a three way hug. "Katherine, "Martha said, "tell us how he is. Don't sugar coat anything. We need the truth."

"He's been beaten very badly." Alexis started to cry, but Kate went on describing the injuries she had seen. "But the paramedics said his vital signs were good for someone who's been beaten as badly as Castle has. I think he'll be just fine, but we'll need to hear from the doctors."

"Why would someone do something like that?" Alexis asked, resting against Kate and crying.

The detective hugged the young woman. "I have no idea, but now I can spend all of my time finding them so we'll find out."

Kate led the two woman to a couch by the nurses' station where they sat and waited. Alexis held Kate's hand tightly and leaned on her.

"Meredith still hasn't called." She said.

"That's probably a blessing." Martha said tiredly.

"I don't care. I have a better mom now."

Kate quickly looked at Martha to see how she reacted.

Martha smiled at the two. "Indeed you do."

After a half an hour or so, a nurse came out to see them. "Detective? And these are..?" She nodded to Alexis and Martha.

"These are his mother and his daughter." Kate explained.

"We've done X-rays and an MRI on Mr. Castle, and the doctors are working on him now. He's in good shape for what he's gone through. But I don't wish to minimize how much damage has been done. However, it looks like he should recover with no real permanent ill effects."

"Thank God." Martha breathed,

"He'll be unconscious until tomorrow at least, but if you'd like to see him, it'll be a couple of hours. "

"Yes!" All three women said at once.

Martha spoke. "Yes, please let us know when we can see him. And thank you so very much."

"Thank you. We appreciate all that police officers like Mr. Castle do for us." The nurse said with a smile.

"Oh!" Kate said. "Castle isn't a police officer, he's a civilian investigator who consults with us, but he is my partner."

The nurse's smile never wavered. "Same thing, right?"

"Right." Martha said quickly.

The three sat on the couch drinking coffee for almost three hours. Then a nurse in scrubs came out, and almost immediately Ryan and Esposito arrived.

"You can see Mr. Castle now." The nurse said.

"Beckett?" Esposito said, motioning for her to come to them.

Kate sighed. "Martha you and Alexis go see him. I'll be in after I talk to my team. Okay?"

Alexis and Martha followed the nurse and Kate turned to the two detectives. One look at their faces told them everything she needed to know. "You found nothing."

"Afraid so." Ryan said sadly. "Sorry."

"Tell me anyway, it might be useful later on."

"CSU went over the whole place. We're betting the guy drove in, dumped Castle and never got out of his car."

"What about security cams in the garage?"

"Nada." Espo said. "Apparently the owner figures that not enough people try to skip out without paying to make cameras a paying proposition. There aren't any traffic cams for a couple of blocks. We're scrubbing the video from them, but we don't expect much."

"What about the cashier?" Kate was getting more and more frustrated.

Ryan opened his notebook. "Miss Patel is from India and just got here and got a job with her uncle, who owns the garage. She wouldn't know a Harley from a big rig and spends all of her time reading celebrity magazines in the little cashier's booth. She might notice George Clooney, but not much else."

"We checked the phone that Castle called on. It belongs to a Sarah Goldman, age sixteen, a high school student. We checked her and her family and can't find any link to Castle or any criminal activity. We're betting the phone was stolen. We'll check in the morning, which is just a couple of hours away." Espo looked closely at Kate. "You should get some rest. This has been hard on you."

"Not as hard as it was on Castle." She snapped angrily.

"I never said it wasn't hard on him." Espo said softly.

Kate looked at her feet. "I'm sorry, Javi. I didn't mean that. I'm going to grab a few hours of sleep here. I'll meet you at the precinct and we'll go to see the Goldmans together."

"You can't do it all, Beckett. " Ryan said.

"No, but I can do as much as I can. I'll have plenty of time to sleep once we find these bastards."

As Kate turned to go see Rick, Alexis and Martha came out through the doors to the ICU. "He's all cleaned up, Katherine. He looks better, they tell me. He'll be okay. If you'd like, we can wait and take you home."

She shook her head. "No. I'll grab some sleep here and then go to the precinct. We have another lead, but it doesn't look promising. I have to check it out, though."

"I'll come down here and bring you some clean clothes in the morning, dear."

"I'll come, Grams.' Alexis said. "You'll be tired."

"You don't have to do that." Kate said.

"Of course we do, dear. After all you've done, it's the least we can do."

The three hugged and the two redheads left. Kate found a nurse who directed her to Castle's room. He was asleep, or unconscious, she didn't know which. He did look better now that he had been cleaned up. A nasal cannula was giving him oxygen and he had IV tubes in both arms. She could see casts on both wrists and his fingers.

She leaned down and very gently brushed her lips against his. "Rick, I love you. I love you, Rick."

She heard a noise behind her and whirled around. Two women dressed in scrubs were standing there in the doorway. The older woman spoke. "You are…?"

Kate pulled out her badge. "Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. This is my partner." She saw the women looking skeptically at her. "In more ways than one." She added.

The older woman smiled. "Obviously." She walked into the room and held out her hand. "I'm Doctor Marguerite da Silva and this is Nurse Peggy Baer. We're looking after your partner. Would you like a briefing on what we've found?"

"Very much so."

All three moved to the bed next to Castle. Dr. da Silva spoke. "Starting at the feet, both of his ankles were broken. It appears that they were broken first, probably to limit his mobility. His left cuboid bone, in the foot, was also broken, probably by stomping on it. Both of his big toenails were torn off. His calves and thighs are severely bruised. His left patella is fractured and his right anterior cruciate ligament is badly torn." The doctor looked at Kate. "He was kicked repeatedly in the groin. There appears to be no permanent damage, but you won't be having sex with your boyfriend for a while."

Kate nodded. _I've waited for years. A little more time won't matter, but when he is ready, we won't stop for a month. I have a lot of time to make up for. And a lot of things to make up to Castle for._

Dr. da Silva went on. "He's been repeatedly struck in the stomach and in the lower back. He'll probably have blood in his urine for some time. A total of five ribs are cracked, two on the left, three on the right. His left shoulder is dislocated, and both wrists are broken. In addition, his right thumb and two fingers are broken and his left thumb and all four fingers are dislocated. Two teeth were knocked out and his jaw is broken, a hairline fracture. His nose was also broken. As you can see, he has two black eyes."

To the outside world, Kate appeared to be completely calm. Inside, she was seething with rage.

"We have seen this sort of thing before, but never quite so severe." Dr. da Silva said.

"Where? When? Who?" Kate asked sharply.

"According to police, they were people who ran afoul of loan sharks. In spite of the pain inflicted on Mr. Castle, he should recover completely. Loan sharks like to inflict a great deal of pain, but leave their victims able to work and pay their debts."

That started Kate thinking. _Loan sharks? I can't imagine Castle needing a loan shark. But, Cano Vega needed one, so it's not impossible. And if we arrested someone who owed money to a loan shark, that might make him mad. It's hard to collect your money from a guy in prison._

"There's something else." That was the nurse.

"What?"

She looked at the doctor, who nodded. "When I first saw Mr. Castle, I thought that whoever did this had some knowledge of medicine. Probably not a doctor, but maybe a physical therapist. Someone with some medical knowledge.

That also set Kate thinking. "Thanks for the information. If I could, I'd like to stay here tonight."

"Mr. Castle won't be awake, Detective and there are hospital rules."

"Castle is my partner…"

Dr. da Silva broke in. "Since Mr. Castle was kidnapped and tortured, I think it would be advisable if an armed guard were present. Would you care to volunteer, detective?"

Kate smiled. "Absolutely."

"We should be able to squeeze a bed in here for you." The nurse said. "Why don't you wash up and I'll see about the bed?"

By the time Kate got out of the bathroom, a bed had been placed next to Castle. She gently kissed Rick good night, told him she loved him and crawled into bed.

Very early the next morning, Kate was woken by Alexis. "Kate, I brought you some clean clothes. I also brought you some coffee. It's just the coffee from the hospital, but it's a fresh pot and it isn't too bad."

Kate mumbled her thanks, took a sip, frowned and put the cup down. "I'll be in the bathroom." She went into the bathroom, got ready for the day as best she could and got dressed. She came out, took another sip of coffee and found Alexis was still there.

"Detective Esposito texted me that you came here in the ambulance and didn't have your car. I'll be happy to drive you to work."

"Alexis, you don't have to do that."

"What? Make my new mom take the subway? Never."

Kate blushed, then decided she might as well accept it. She walked over to Castle, kissed him gently and whispered, "I love you."

Alexis was right behind her. She kissed her dad and told him she loved him as well.

Arriving at her desk, Kate called Ryan and Esposito over. "I got some information from the doctors last night. They say they've seen similar injuries to Castle's from loan sharks, who want their clients to suffer, but to be able to get back to work and pay their debts. Check and see if any loan sharks were inconvenienced by anyone Castle helped arrest. And, I hate to do this, but we should check Castle's finances. I can't imagine him needing to go to a loan shark, but we're getting nowhere. We have to look at anything and everything."

Kate thought about what she was going to say next. "One of the nurses thought that the people who beat up Castle might have some sort of medical training. Mr. Kim and Ms. Mardikian are both pre-med students. Check them and their families out again. And check out Doctor Josh Davidson."

Ryan looked up. "You think he might be involved?"

Kate shook her head. "No, but I can't take any chances. Josh wasn't happy when I broke up with him and he knows I broke up with him because of Castle."

"How'd he know that? It sure never looked to us…" Ryan stopped, seeing that he'd said too much. Esposito slapped the back of his head.

"That's okay, Ryan. No one knows better than I do how badly I've screwed up with Castle. Check Davidson anyway. Espo and I will go see the Goldmans."

The Goldmans lived in a very nice brownstone not too far from Central Park. Mr. Goldman was a stock broker, Mrs. Goldman was a stay at home mother. Sarah, the only child was a pretty girl. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She looked nervously at her hands. She was dressed in jeans and a colorful blouse.

"May I ask what this is about, Detective?" Mr. Goldman addressed Esposito.

Kate replied, "My partner was kidnapped and tortured. When he was found, he had a phone registered to your daughter. We'd like to know how he got it." She showed a photo of the phone to the Goldmans.

"That's my old phone. I lost it about five months ago." Sarah spoke up. Her father glared at her.

"Where did you lose it, Sarah?"

The girl looked around. "I'm not sure. The mall, for sure."

"Which mall?"

"Bridgeview. It's just down the street from school. We had a half day because the teachers had some kind of a conference to go to."

"What school do you go to?" Kate asked.

"Manhattan Science and Technical." Sarah said proudly.

"Sarah's studying computers. She knows all about them." Her mother added.

"What happened at the mall, Sarah?"

"We went to Jimmy's, it's a pizza place. The pizzas aren't good, but they have some real cute guys who…" She looked at her father, who was glaring again. "We had pizza." She finished quietly.

"We? Who else was with you?"

"Elsa Chen and Grace Summers. They're my best friends. After we ate, we went to Conroy's. It's a clothing boutique. They have…" She looked at her father again. "Nice things."

"What happened there?"

"I had my phone in my backpack. I put the backpack down, just for a second, to look at some clothes. As we were leaving Conroy's I remembered I had to check my e-mail for my technical writing class homework. I looked for my phone, but it was gone. I went back to Conroy's and the Jimmy's, but I couldn't find it."

"Money does not grow on trees, young lady." Her father began. "When I was your age, I had to work for everything I got. Every single thing. I didn't have the luxury…"

Kate interrupted. "And you never reported the loss to the police?"

Sarah shrugged. "I thought I had lost it. So, no."

"Did you see anyone suspicious, or unusual at either Jimmy's or Conroy's?" Espo asked.

Sarah shook her head. "No, but I wasn't really paying attention."

"And because you weren't paying attention, we're involved with the police." Her father said sharply.

Kate took the names, addresses and phone numbers of Sarah's friends in the hope they might remember something. As they left, the two detectives could hear Sarah's father berating her.

"I almost feel like grabbing Sarah and giving her to Castle. She'd be another Alexis in no time."

"Yeah." Kate said absently. _We could make another Alexis. Or another Rick, or another Kate. Whoa, girl. One thing at a time._

Ryan was waiting for them at the precinct. "If no news is good news, I've got good news for you."

Kate just nodded. She was getting used to this. "What do you have?" She finally asked, sitting in her chair. She noticed that both Ryan and Esposito made a point of not sitting in Castle's chair.

"I can't find any connection between the Mardikians and Castle or between the Kims and Castle. I did talk to the office of the UN High Commission for Refugees here in New York. Josh has been in the eastern Congo for the last year."

"It was worth a shot." Kate said, unhappily.

"And I can't find any other medical personnel that might have been pissed off at Castle for arresting someone close to them."

"How about the loan shark angle, bro?"

"I did get Castle's financials. I called Martha and she asked his lawyer to come over here." Ryan handed Kate a sheaf of papers. "I knew the guy was rich, but this…He could buy all of the loan sharks in New York."

Kate had known Rick was rich, but she was surprised at the number of zeros in the bottom line. _I've worried too much about money. That millionaire playboy Rick Castle would never want me. And the money means nothing to either of us._

Ryan continued. "As far as any loan sharks that might have lost money because you and Castle put someone away, that's going to be harder. It's not like loan sharks publish quarterly reports. I'm working on it though."

Kate smile at her friend. "Thanks, Kevin, I appreciate everything that everyone is doing, and I know Castle appreciates it, too."

Kate's cell phone rang. "It's a call from Martha, let me take it alone, okay?" The two detectives went back to their desks and Kate accepted the call.

"Beckett."

"Katherine, I hate to ask you this. But the FBI has left and there's no one here but Alexis and me. I'm afraid that since they let Richard go, they might want one of us. I know you'll want to be at the hospital tonight, but could you just come over and sleep here tonight? I'd appreciate it so much. I know it's a huge imposition, but…."

"It's no imposition at all, Martha." Kate smiled. "We're family."

"Yes we are, dear."

"I do want to drop by the hospital and see Rick tonight, so I'll call you when I'm through there."

Kate hung up and helped Ryan and Esposito look over reports of their old cases that might involve loan sharks. They found nothing.

"Why don't you take off?" Espo asked. "You had a rough night last night. You could use a good night's sleep."

Kate checked her watch. "It's only four."

"Go!" Espo said, "We've got this."

When she got to the hospital, she was stopped by Dr. da Silva. "Detective Beckett, we decided to do some more work on Mr. Castle today, we put some pins in his ankles among other things, so he's still under the anesthetic. You should be able to talk to him tomorrow afternoon, though."

"Can I see him now?"

"Certainly."

When Kate walked into his room, she thought he looked better. The bruises on his face and arms were fading. He briefly opened his eyes when she came in.

"Hi, Castle. It's me."

His eyes fluttered and then closed.

She leaned down and gently brushed his lips with hers. "I love you, Rick."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Ain't mine. Rating: M. Time: Before 47 Seconds

Kate could smell the food before she opened the door to the loft. Once inside, she could see that both Martha and Alexis were still in the kitchen although the dining room table was crowded with dishes.

"What have you two been doing?" She asked, looking over the food already on the table. "We're you planning to invite the whole block to dinner?"

Martha rushed to Kate and hugged her. "Welcome, Katherine. We're celebrating Richard's return to us. Tonight, we feast."

"We may have gone just a bit overboard." Alexis said, smiling. "But we wanted to do something nice for you after all that you've done."

Kate blushed. "But I didn't do anything. For some reason they released Castle. I had nothing to do with it."

"How do you know?" Martha asked bluntly. "Perhaps you were getting close and they decided to cut their losses and run?"

"I doubt it." Kate said. "That's just not the way violent criminals think."

"Anyway, Dad's back and he'll get better." Alexis said." That's cause to celebrate. And there'll be plenty of leftovers to take into the precinct tomorrow for everyone. We even made a few things especially for the people there."

Kate took off her coat and hung it up. "So, what can I do?"

"Appreciate what we've done for you, dear." Martha said.

"I will, but I'm going to help."

Before Martha could say anything, Alexis spoke. "You could fix the garden salad. Over at the end of the island."

Kate had to admit that it had been one of the best meals she had ever had. And when she went to bed that night, she was happier than she had been in years. _He's back and we'll be together. I know this will work._

The next morning, Alexis went with her to the precinct. Kate needed extra help to bring all of the food into the bullpen.

"What is this?" Ryan asked, inhaling deeply.

"Something from the Castle family to let you know how much we appreciate all that you've done." Alexis said cheerfully. "We hope you like it." She held up a very large bag. "And I know it's a cliché, but Kate stopped and got six dozen donuts at Donut Delight."

"So, this is from the Castles and Beckett?" Espo asked.

"Same thing." Alexis said, and then blushed. Kate blushed as well, but no one said anything.

"We have some news. "Ryan said around a mouthful of donut. "We had some uniforms talk to Sarah Goldman's friends, Chen and Summers. They pretty much confirmed her story, except for one thing."

Kate perked up at that. "And?"

"They both said that Sarah left her backpack for a good ten or fifteen minutes, not the minute or so she told us. We called Sarah and she confirmed that. She said she didn't want her dad to know how long she'd left her back pack alone. Apparently he's mad enough as it is. And we called Conroy's, the store they were in. They don't keep any surveillance videos for more than a month. Anything they had is long gone."

"Another damned dead end." But, now that they had Castle back, she wasn't as unhappy as she had been. "I'm going to put Alexis in a cab and then I'll work on seeing if we can find any connection between anyone Castle and I arrested, and any loan sharks."

"Kate?" Alexis spoke up. "Can I stay? And help you that is? I might recognize a name or something that you wouldn't. Please? I want to help."

Kate thought for a second. "Let me ask Captain Gates."

To her surprise, Gates liked the idea. "I have to admit, Detective, that I'm more impressed with Miss Castle than I have been with Mr. Castle." Gates stopped for a moment, then continued. "Although I'm beginning to see some of what you apparently see in him."

Kate decided it was best to thank the Captain and leave before she had a chance to change her mind.

"You're in, Alexis." Kate said. "We've been going over police reports for arrests that Castle was involved in, hoping to find some kind of connection between him and someone out there. I know it's a long shot, but it's all we have."

Alexis unknowingly sat in Castle's chair by Kate's desk. Kate found that she didn't mind. _I want a Castle in that chair and now I have one. And I'll have the one I want sitting there soon enough. _

They had been sitting there reading reports and Kate was about to suggest lunch when Alexis spoke. "Kate…"

Kate looked up. Alexis was clearly upset. "Did you find something?"

Alexis quickly shook her head. "No. It's just…My dad has been doing a lot more than just following you around, hasn't he? In this report, a jewel thief had him on the ground and was beating him until you got the guy off of Dad."

"Don't worry. That jewel thief is in prison. We've checked."

"Your father is a part of my homicide team, Alexis. He's my partner in every sense of the word. I'm sure that upsets you. I can understand that, but…"

Alexis smiled. "It's just it's so not like Dad. I know he's different since he's met you. I'm just realizing how different. I'm really proud of him. And you."

"I'm proud of him, too."

Before Kate could go on, the phone rang.

"Beckett."

"Hi, Detective Beckett? This is Dr. da Silva. Mr. Castle is awake, but he's in a lot of pain. However, he won't take his pain meds because he says he wants to talk to you about the case. Can you come over, or have someone drop by. We'd like to get him back on his pain meds as soon as we can."

"I can be there in half an hour."

Alexis had been listening in, her head next to Kate's. "If Dad's refusing his pain medications, I shouldn't go. He needs to talk to you and not be distracted. You go alone…."Alexis looked around to see if anyone was near, and then added, "Mom."

Kate grabbed her gear, hugged Alexis and head for the hospital.

When she walked in to Castle's room, he turned his head around and saw him grimace. "Castle, how are you?"

"Much better now that you're here." He smiled, showing the gap where his tooth was missing. "I guess I'm more rugged than handsome now, though."

She smiled back. "No, you're still ruggedly handsome."

"Look, I need to tell you what happened, so let me tell it my way, okay."

Kate nodded and took out a notebook.

Castle stared at the ceiling and cleared his mind. "I went to get your coffee at Java Joint just like always. I didn't see anyone out of the ordinary, although it was crowded, and nothing was out of the ordinary. I was walking to my car, got out my keys and put the coffee on the roof of my car and bang! It was like being hit with a baseball bat or something."

Kate interrupted. "The doctors said they found a healing electrical burn on you. Probably from a cattle prod or something similar."

Castle nodded. "When I woke up, I was kind of woozy, like I had been knocked out by a sedative or something. I was hanging by my wrists and my legs hurt like hell. The doctors say they broke my ankles first thing, probably to make it harder for me to run. I had my eyes covered the whole time and never saw a thing. Not even light or dark. It was always dark. And they put ear buds in my ear, taped in I think. They had an IPad, or something playing loud rap music the whole time. And then they started beating me."

"They?" Kate asked. "More than one person?"

He nodded. "I could tell from the way they hit me. It was a big one and a little one, or maybe a strong one and a weak one. Anyway, I could tell from the way they punched, or kicked me." He craned his neck around so he could look at her. "Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"Castle don't you dare apologize for not being more help. I'm the cop here. I should be apologizing for not getting you back sooner or catching the bastards." Kate thought about that. "So maybe a father and a young son? Father and daughter? Older and younger brother?"

"Young criminal and his muse?" Castle added.

"Don't use that word with those bastards, Castle."

"Speaking of bastards, how is the hunt for them going?"

Kate quickly told Castle all that she had found out since he had been kidnapped. Castle thought carefully about each and every person they had talked to and didn't recognize any of them.

"One thing I don't get, Beckett. Why didn't they ask for a ransom? Or kill me?"

Kate had thought about that and had no real good answer. "The most dangerous time for a kidnapper is when they pick up the money. They're vulnerable to being spotted by the police. This isn't about money, it's about you. But why they let you go, I have no idea. I'm just thankful they did." She thought for a second. "Esposito had a theory. Sometimes torturers will let their victim think that he's being released to get his hopes up, then start up again. I just don't know."

"Me, either."

Kate checked her watch. "I'm keeping you from getting your pain meds. I should leave. But first I need to…""

"Before you go, I wanted to tell you something. I had a dream about you last night. I dreamed you were here in the hospital. "

"What happened?" Kate asked with a sly grin.

"Nothing. You were just here."

She leaned over the bed and looked him in the eyes. "Castle, you know I can tell when you're lying to me. Now what really happened in the dream?"

"Nothing. I told you."

He sighed exaggeratedly. "You're still lying, Castle. So I'll have to tell you what happened in your dream. She bent down and gently brushed her lips over his. "I kissed you and then I whispered, "I love you, Rick." Isn't that what happened in your dream?"

Castle was shocked. "That wasn't a dream."

She brushed her lips over his for a slightly longer time and whispered in his ear, "I love you Richard Castle and I have for a very long time. I'm so sorry I took so long to tell you."

Castle grimaced and groaned.

"What happened?" She said, frightened that she had done something to hurt him.

"I wanted to put my arm around you. I forgot I've got so damned many things wrong with me. But, I love you, too, Kate. I love you more than anything."

"I know." She said without thinking.

"You do?" Castle was surprised.

_Crap! I almost told him that I heard him there at the funeral._ She laughed to cover her embarrassment. "Castle, I'm a detective. People have been figuring out were a couple for years. Didn't you think that I'd even figure it out? I've been in love with you since our first year together, and I figured out you loved me a long time ago. I was afraid of loving you. I never thought you'd really love…"

"The remarkable Kate Beckett? You're not as good a detective as I thought. But we are a couple now. We love each other and we know it."

_At last_. She thought. She leaned closer to him. "I'll be back tonight. I'll be sleeping in the bed next to you. I'm your police guard. And I'm going have a couple of uniforms outside the loft so Martha and Alexis are okay."

"You're just doing that now?" Castle asked.

She blushed. "Martha didn't like the FBI agent that was assigned to your case. Neither did I, for that matter. And, Martha was afraid that whoever had you might come after her and Alexis. Martha asked me to stay with them. I've been sleeping in your bed except for the night I was here."

Castle grinned. "How was it?"

"Lonely. Very lonely. When you're better and can come home, I want to be in that bed with you. Is that okay?"

"Always. And that's how long I want you with me. I love you Kate Beckett."

"I love you, too."

"And you both love each other." Came a voice from behind them. Kate whirled around, somewhat embarrassed. Then she decided she had nothing to be embarrassed about.

"That we do?" She replied. Another nurse had joined them, from her ebony skin and her accent, Kate decided she was from the Caribbean. "And you are?'

"Nurse Patty O'Connell. And you would be that Detective Beckett who's been keeping my patient from getting the medicine he needs, aren't you?"

"No, she's the detective who's trying to find the people who saw to it that I need pain killers."

O'Connell laughed. "Mr. Castle is not going to let me push you around. He won't let anyone push him around either. Are you sure you want this very difficult man, Detective?"

Castle beat Beckett in making a reply. "You don't know what difficult is until you've met Kate Beckett, Patty."

The nurse nodded. "She does have a gun and handcuffs. They will be much needed in dealing with you, Mr. Castle."

He nodded. "She's already had the cuffs on me."

"Sounds like fun." The nurse said.

"She was arresting me. It was when we first met."

"Aha! You got off on the right foot with Mr. Castle then?" Patty said, laughing.

"I think we're on the right foot now." Kate said, deciding that Patty and Castle were friends.

She turned to Castle. "Now take your meds like a good boy and I'll be back tonight."

Castle winked at her. "Promises, promises."

Once back at the precinct, Kate found that Alexis was still there, diligently going through a pile of police reports. "How's she doing?" She asked Esposito.

"Detective Castle found us a lead, but it didn't turn out."

Kate turned to look at Alexis who was blushing at being called a detective. "What was it?"

"A loan shark named George Keith was interviewed for two separate cases. Ryan and I did one interview, and you and Castle did the other. Both times a guy who owed Keith a pile of money went away, leaving Keith very unhappy."

"How unhappy?"

"Hard to say. Keith slapped around the twelve year old son of one of his customers who was behind in his payments, and the customer took offense. He used a twelve gauge to express his displeasure with Mr. Keith. Keith is dead. A year ago. And he has no relatives or even close friends. Loan sharks don't make friends for some reason."

Kate slowly shook her head. "Damn. We've gotten no place with this case. Why the hell can't we get a break?"

Espo lowered his voice so Alexis couldn't hear. "You did get a break. You have Castle back."

Which reminded Kate of something. "Do you have any idea why they would just release Castle like that?"

Espo and Ryan exchanged glances. "No, but were sure there's a method in their madness. Maybe they wanted to draw our attention away from something or someone, but the murders we've gotten since Castle was grabbed are simple. The other detectives closed them with no problems."

Ryan spoke up. "Maybe someone blamed Castle for a real bad beating they endured. You know, an eye for an eye kind of thing?"

Kate told the boys about what Castle had told her concerning his kidnapping and beating.

"Two people?" Espo said quietly. "So maybe someone got beat up really badly and blamed Castle?"

Kate shook her head. "I don't know. I don't remember anyone getting beat up because of Castle, though. But it's something we can check on. And look into the other murders and make sure we weren't distracted somehow."

Kate and her team went back to reviewing files until Kate noticed that Alexis was starting to droop.

"Detective Castle?" She said, enjoying Alexis's look of pride. "I think it's time we went home." She turned to her other two detectives, "You too. We'll come back tomorrow morning and get a fresh start."

Alexis started to argue but Kate cut her off. "No arguments. I'll take you home now."

"Actually, I can take her home." Espo said.

"You?"

"You wanted a patrol car outside, but we're short-handed as it is. So, I told Gates that I'd stay at the loft tonight."

"We're ordering pizza from this place in New Jersey that Dad just loves. They make the best…" She noticed Espo shaking his head.

Kate smiled and looked at her partner. "I see. Free pizza and maybe a night playing with all of the cool toys at Casa Castle?"

Espo laughed. "Busted. But he has these great video games and he plays them on this giant screen…"Espo realized he might have said too much.

"Don't worry, Detective Beckett. "Alexis said with a smirk. "I'll be gentle with him."

"You, little girl? I'll wax your…"Espo stopped suddenly, then blushed slightly. "I mean, you're going down."

"Oh!" Kate said, raising an eyebrow.

"You have a dirty mind, Beckett. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Why?" Kate said sweetly. "So you can have more room?"

"I think we should leave before this gets too bad." Ryan said, grabbing his jacket and heading for the elevator.

"Coming, Castle?" Kate said.

Kate arrived at Rick's room in the hospital just in time to hear a small argument going on.

"You really expect me to eat baby food?" Rick said.

Patty O'Connell answered him. "I expect you to eat what the doctors tell you to eat. You have a broken jaw and two missing teeth. Granted, it's only a hairline fracture, but you cannot chew, Mr. Castle. There is a great big, strong male nurse who does not bathe or brush his teeth who would love to feed you. Should I call him?"

Kate stuck her head in the door. "I might have more luck."

"Indeed you might." Patty said resignedly. She motioned Kate towards a tray of food in front of Castle. "Good luck, Detective." She left.

Kate sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you going to be difficult?" She asked sternly, but with a smile.

"Couldn't you sneak out and get me a steak, then cut it up into small pieces, then,…"

"No!" Kate said. "One thing about having Kate Beckett love you, Castle, is that she is going to take great care of you, like it or not."

"Okay, but only if you give me dessert after."

She looked down onto the bowl of beige…something in front of her. "I'm not sure this comes with dessert."

"Dessert is sitting on the edge of my bed."

"Okay, but nothing too strenuous. You've been badly injured."

Castle opened his mouth and Kate began spooning beige something in it. When they were done, Castle smiled up at her. "Dessert now?"

He bent down and kissed him very gently. He tried to lift his head up to kiss her more passionately, but she moved back. "You have a broken jaw and two missing teeth." She whispered.

"It's a hairline fracture."

"No. That's all the dessert you get tonight. I'm not taking a chance that you'll be hurt further. I'm going to change in the bathroom and go to bed."

"With me?"

"In the other bed."

"I won't do anything."

"No!" She said firmly. "For one, I might move and hurt you. Secondly, I don't want the nurses to come in and see us together."

Kate went to the bathroom, washed up, took off her makeup and got ready for bed. She came out wearing running shorts and an NYPD tee shirt.

"You're wearing that to bed?" Castle moaned.

"Here. When you're home and better, I won't wear a stitch."

"You know, you could…"

"Good night, Rick. I love you."

Rick sighed. "I love you too,"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: You might be surprised at how little of Castle I own. Or not. Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds.

Kate was coming out of the bathroom the next morning, ready to go to the precinct when Dr. da Silva came in.

"Mr. Castle. Detective Beckett. How are you this morning?"

"Fine." Kate replied.

"When can I get out of here?" Was Castle's response.

Dr. da Silva smiled. "Good news. We've determined that you have no internal injuries and your various injuries are healing nicely. We've decided that you can go home tomorrow morning."

"Not today?"

The doctor did a very Kate-like eye roll. "Tomorrow. And only if you agree to have a nurse in your home during the day. I'm sure your family and…"the doctor gave Kate a significant look. "And friends will be able to look after you."

"I'm sure we can." Kate said quickly.

"You're not going to have that male nurse with body odor and bad breath taking care of me, are you?"

"Nurse Marquez is a very competent young lady." Dr. da Silva turned to Kate. "Mr. Castle has been a very difficult patient. For some reason he's been extremely anxious to leave us."

Kate blushed and said nothing. Castle studiously looked out the window.

After kissing Castle goodbye and promising to be there with a car that night so she could take him home in the morning, she went outside and called Martha to tell her the good news.

"Wonderful, Katherine. I know he was miserable in that hospital. Richard always has to be doing something."

"I know." Kate was sure Martha had a very good idea of what Castle wanted to do. "Can you tell Alexis?"

"Oh, she and Esposito have already left for the precinct. Detective Castle is quite proud of her work there."

"I hope Rick doesn't find out about that. He'll be jealous and want to be called Detective Castle as well."

"Oh, no, dear. He'll want to be called Chief Castle."

She walked into the precinct just as Ryan and Esposito were putting on their coats. She noticed that Alexis was looking very unhappy.

"What's happening?" She asked.

"Kate, it's not fair." Alexis said.

"Life isn't fair." Espo said.

"Detective Castle here," Ryan pointed to Alexis, "found another link to a loan shark. Remember that Russian that was loan sharking people who lost money at poker to him and his pals? Killed that guy, John Allen. She figured out that Yuri, our murderer, had a real motive to get Castle."

Kate nodded. "Isn't he still in prison?"

Espo nodded, smiling. "But Vice knows all about him and his little friends. It seems his pals all fronted Yuri whatever spare cash they had in return for a piece of the loan sharking action. Yuri's in the slammer, but he has all of his money safe in the bank. His pals can't touch it, and they're mad."

Kate thought. "So, two possibilities. Yuri uses his money to get back at Castle for taking him down, and because Castle beat him at poker. That would make for one angry Russian. Or, his pals, having lost their investment thanks to Castle, decide for a little pay back. Kidnap him, beat him up and then at a later date, suggest he might want to pay them off to keep him and his family out of their crosshairs."

"I thought that a ransom drop was the one problem with kidnappings." Alexis said. "That's when the police can identify the kidnapper."

"This is more like extortion." Espo told her. "All the Russians have to say is, come to the game, lose fifty thousand and you'll never hear from us again."

"What's to keep them from doing it over and over again?" Alexis asked.

"Castle has friends." Espo said, sliding his hand over his sidearm.

Kate was puzzled. "So, what's the problem with Detective Castle here?"

"I want to go out in the field with you."

"No!" Kate said determinedly.

"But, Kate! I've been an intern with Lanie, I can handle this."

Kate shook her head. "We have two places to check. One is the prison. And you are not a sworn peace officer in the State of New York or anywhere else. It would take us days to get you in the prison as a civilian. The second is the Russians at the China Town poker game. You are not going anywhere where you can get shot. Period. End of discussion!"

Alexis grumped, but sat back down and returned to her files. "You'll tell me what happens?"

"Of course, Alexis." Kate replied, then turned to her two teammates. "Ryan, can you contact the prison and…"

"Already done. I should get a phone call back pretty soon. But what about the Russians in China Town?"

Kate thought, then smiled. "I may have an idea."

Ryan's phone rang and while he answered it, Kate reviewed the files from Vice concerning the Russians and the illegal gambling in China Town.

Ryan came back with a disgusted look in his face. "No joy there."

"What?" Kate asked.

"Yuri Andropov, our killer, got into a beef with a couple of Hispanic inmates about ten months ago. They repeatedly slammed his head into a concrete wall. He was in a coma for four months and woke up with serious brain damage. He hasn't been in any shape since then to organize a good drool, let alone kidnapping Castle."

"That leaves the China Town Russians." Kate said thoughtfully. "I've got to get something from home. I'll be back in an hour or so. Get ready to go to China Town with me. Under cover."

When Kate came back an hour later, she looked very different than her usual self. Her short, tight black dress accented her long, muscular legs and she showed enough cleavage to display her bright red, lacy bra. She wore way more makeup than usual and her hair was artfully messy. Although Ryan and Esposito had seen the outfit before, Alexis was shocked.

"Kate…Um…"

"Vaht?" Kate said. "You heff never seen a beautiful Russian before, younk lady?"

"Do you speak Russian?" Alexis asked.

"A semester in Kiev." Kate replied in her normal voice. She turned to her team, who were trying not to admire her openly. Kate smiled at their obvious discomfort. "I haff every'ting I need. Haff you gotten some uniforms, dahlink?"

"We haff….Have a half a dozen uniforms ready." Ryan replied.

"Let's go." When Alexis stood and tried to follow her, Kate shook her head and Alexis sat back down, but grumpily.

Two nondescript vans stopped in China Town. One held a half a dozen uniforms, the other Kate and her team. Kate had been outfitted with a button camera and a tiny mic.

"You'll be speaking Russian?" Ryan asked.

"Da."

"So how will we know if you're in trouble?"

"If I need you, I'll say, "God damn it!" loudly in English. "

Ryan nodded. "Okay. One god damn it and we're there ASAP."

Kate got out of the van, shook her head to muss her hair more and walked towards the club, swinging her hips.

"I don't like this, Javi."

Espo nodded. "Me either, but if Beckett finds that these are the guys who grabbed Castle, our main problem will be getting in there before she kills them all."

"It would be a shame if something went wonky with the recorders if that happened."

"I had a little talk with Ellis. I'm sure I can make sure we get a record of everything."

"You sure?"

Espo nodded. "Of course I'm not a computer geek. I could screw it up and erase everything."

"I'm sure I'll be able to testify that you did your best."

Kate walked down the alley to the club and stopped when she got to the two burly Chinese guards at the foot of the stairs. Neither of them had been there the last time she had been there. She glanced to her left. Instead of an old man, there was an old woman.

"Hello, boys." She said. "I'm here for my boyfriend. He needs me." She gave them a slow, salacious smile.

The two looked across at the old lady. She gestured with her hand. One guard began to pat her down. She smiled and took his hand and held it against her boob. "I like man who knows vaht he vants." She said softly. He smiled at her and continued to squeeze her boob, ignoring anything else. The old woman said something in Chinese and he pulled his hand back. They stood aside and Kate walked up the stairs.

Once inside she easily found the Russians playing at the no limit table. She sat down.

"We don't need a whore." One Russian said in heavily accented English.

Kate smiled. Three of the four Russians who had lost money when Andropov got sent to prison where at the table. None of them had been here when she and Castle were here. So far, so good. "I'm not a whore. "She said in Russian. "I'm a business woman."

The Russians laughed. "Fancy word for whore." One said, also in Russian.

Kate tossed a business card on the table, one she'd had made up that morning. It was an exact copy of one in Vice's files. Also speaking Russian, Kate said. "Tatiana Sergeevna Krylenko. I work for Andrei Nikolayevich Semenov. You are familiar with him?" Kate knew they were. Semenov was a rising star in the Russian mob in Atlantic City. And no one you'd want to cross.

"We know of him. So what?"

"He loaned $120, 000 to Mr. Andropov. When he went to jail, my boss contacted him and was told he'd get his money back, but it would take time. Not much my boss could do. He could have had Andropov killed in prison, but that would not get his money back. So he decides to be patient."

The Russian sitting to her left put his hand on Kate's knee and slid his hand up her leg. She turned and smiled at him. "Do you know what I really, really want to do?" She said in a sexy voice.

"I think I do." The man replied.

Kate grabbed his little finger and bent it backwards, dislocating it. The Russian screamed and one of his friends pulled a gun. Kate smile at the man holding the gun and let go of the finger. "We are here to do business. Am I correct?"

The Russian put his pistol away and the other man left, cursing fluently in Russian and English at Kate.

"Why do you come to do business? Why not Semenov?"

Kate shook her head as if in disgust. "Don't you pay attention? He is up to his ass in cops. FBI, Treasury for income tax evasion, the New Jersey Gaming Commission, locals. If he comes to you or sends someone like Little Pavel up here, you have cops up your asses. Do you want that? Instead he sends girlfriend to New York to do some shopping. No cops follow me. Everything good."

"So what kind of business?"

"Andropov went to prison because some damned writer put his nose where it didn't belong. Richard Castle, you know the name?"

"Writer." One of the Russians said. "He's written a lot of books, makes lots of money."

Kate smiled what she hoped was a predatory smile. "So, my boyfriend finds out Andropov is in prison hospital. Brain damage. Maybe he lives, maybe not. But people we contact say he won't have brains to take money out of the bank and give it to Semenov. The prisoners who did this to him? They are low level gang bangers." Kate used the English words." So, Andrei Nikolayevich cannot get his money from them."

A burly Russian laughed. "He's screwed. And so are you. All the time I bet." Everyone laughed.

Kate just smiled coldly. "Then Andrei Nikolayevich thinks: Who caused this in the first place? This Castle. A man with a lot of money. Castle can pay him back the money he loaned to Andropov, if he is asked right."

The Russians laughed again. "Oh, please Mr. Rich Writer, give lots of money to a poor Russian." One said in heavily accented English.

"Maybe if you break some fingers first Mr. Rich Writer will pay us all. Some of you loaned money to Andropov and you lost your money, too. You and Andrei Nikolayevich have something in common."

"So why the hell does he send his whore up here to tell us we have common interests?"

"What did I tell you? He has police up the ass now. They tap his phones, they try to bribe his friends, send in undercover cops. If he sends some people from Atlantic City to New York, everyone notices. Then they have New York police on them like flies on shit. But if you fine men grab Castle some night, work him over, he'll be happy to pay all of us what he's cost us. That is win-win for all of us."

The Russians turned to a slim, well dressed, grey haired man who so far hadn't spoken. He looked at Kate with cold blue eyes. Then he shrugged. "Mr. Castle is a very wealthy man and he has friends with not just the New York police, but with law enforcement and the intelligence services. He's also said to have friends with some of the lesser known military units and with companies who do unspecified, but dangerous, work for the government. Among ourselves, we may speak of the Americans as weak and foolish, but they do have people who can slit a throat with the best of them. What Andrei Nikolayevich suggests would not be wise for the limited amount of funds that we lost. I am very sorry."

Kate sighed deeply. "Then I thank you for your time." She rose and walked away, then turned. "I hope you don't intend to take our idea up and leave us out. That would not be… polite." She continued her way out.

Once outside she walked past the truck with Ryan and Esposito in it, muttering, "Pick me up around the corner. I don't want them to see me getting into a truck."

Once inside, they asked her how things went.

"We should keep an eye on them, but I don't think they're involved. I can't be sure, but I don't think it's them."

Kate and the rest of her team spent the rest of the day reading over reports of cases Castle had been involved in, hoping to find something. They found nothing.

Kate left at about six in the evening and went to the hospital. She smiled happily when she saw Castle again.

"Perfect timing." Castle said, sarcastically as she walked in.

"What?" She said uncertainly. _Did I do something wrong?_

"I was just fed my dinner by the male nurse who never bathes. This time it was something green. Or maybe it was just moldy."

"Castle!" She said, frowning at him. "They're not going to feed you mold."

He looked around and lowered his voice. "I'm sure a mad scientist has taken over the hospital and is using it for unspeakable experiments. Experiments involving green mold. I'll bet it involves zombies, too."

"I'll bet you're right." Kate whispered back to him. "I should leave you alone tonight so that I can get the precinct ready for the zombie apocalypse. I'll send an ESU team to get you out later." She turned and headed for the door.

"Kate!" He cried. "Wait!"

She turned around, with a very serious look on her face. "Yes?"

"You win. There are no mad scientists and no zombies here. And I need you here tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Every night. And every day." He confessed.

"I love you, Rick." She said, kissing him.

"I love you, Kate."

"How was your day?"

He grimaced. "It was lousy. I had nothing to do all day long. I watched TV and there was nothing interesting on." Castle spent the next ten minutes telling her how much he had missed her.

She kissed him again. "I missed you, too."

"What did you do today?"

Kate told him about her undercover work with the Russian poker players.

She wasn't halfway through when he stopped her. "Are you out of your mind? You could have gotten killed. What were you thinking of?"

"My job." She said flatly. "And finding the people who did this to you."

"Kate! You can't…"And then he realized that she could and that she would, whether he liked it or not. "Okay, you can. But please try to be careful."

"I was. I had Ryan and Esposito and a whole truck full of uniforms to back me up. And I was wearing a wire. The same kind you did, with a button camera and a mic."

"What if they had searched you?"

Kate blushed. "They did, but they weren't looking for a wire."

Castle was puzzled for a second. Then he got it. "I don't think I want to hear any more about your day."

"And I don't want to tell you anything more about it."

Castle looked around, and motioned Kate to come closer. "Do you know what I'd love?"

Kate blushed. "Yes."

"Do you think you can get me a steak then?"

"Castle!" She said, laughing. "I'm beginning to think that you're only interested in me for my body. The body that can bring you food."

"I am interested in your body," he said, "and not just so you can bring me food. How about slipping into bed with me tonight?"

"No." Kate said. "I mean it. I don't want anything happening to you. Now, I brought some of your books with me. Would you like me to read to you?"

"It's my second favorite thing to do with you."

"We haven't done anything yet."

"Yet." He agreed. "But I have plans."

Kate read for a few hours until Castle started to nod off. Due both to his injuries and his pain killers, he was sleeping far more than usual. Kate changed in the bathroom and came back out in running shorts and a tee shirt. She kissed Castle more passionately, letting their tongues mingle for just a bit. Then she crawled into her own bed.

"Tomorrow night we'll be at the loft. Love you."

"Can't wait. Love you, too."

Castle was awake at dawn, ready to go home. He was disappointed that the hospital's business office didn't open until 8AM and he'd have to wait until then. Kate woke up when she heard Castle muttering under his breath, kissed him good morning and got dressed.

At long last, Castle was in a wheelchair and was leaving the hospital. Waiting at the curb was Kate with her Crown Vic and a woman in hospital scrubs.

"Mr. Castle? Ms. Beckett? I'm Catalina Marquez. I'll be staying with Mr. Castle for a while until he's able to take care of himself better, and I'll also be doing some physical therapy with him so he'll be in good shape when he's finally healed. "

Kate looked over the woman. Definitely Hispanic with dark eyes, black, shiny hair and a cinnamon complexion. She was in her mid to late twenties, Kate guessed, shorter than Kate and heavier, but well- muscled and quite attractive.

"Glad to meet you." Both Kate and Rick said together, and then laughed.

Kate drove them to the loft and helped wheel Rick to his bedroom and into his bed. Alexis and Martha were there, of course, and made a great fuss over Rick, which he quite enjoyed. But he enjoyed having Kate fuss over him more.

Finally, "I have to get to work, babe." Kate kissed him and let him gently stroke her boobs through her sweater since they were alone in his bedroom. "Alexis is staying here today, but she wants to come in and help, so maybe tomorrow."

Kate arrived at the 12th and spent the entire day going over cases that Castle had worked on and got absolutely nowhere. By five o'clock she was more than ready to go home. She smiled to herself. _Castle's loft is home now. _

She arrived just as Catalina Marquez was getting ready to leave. "How was your patient today?" Kate asked.

She sighed and gave Kate an odd look. "I've had better, but few as difficult as Mr. Castle. He argued about breakfast and lunch. He also won't use the bedpan, or let me help him in the bathroom. I tried to explain to him that I have seen literally hundreds of naked men and I've helped them void their bladders and bowels. It's no big deal to me. But about three this afternoon, I heard this thud and it was Mr. Castle. He was trying to get to the bathroom on his own, without the wheelchair or crutches. He'd fallen but managed to catch himself on the dresser, so he wasn't hurt." She shook her head. "Your boyfriend is a very, very stubborn man. I wish you luck with him."

Kate smiled. "I'll have a talk with him. And thank you for everything."

Catalina smiled back. "It's my job. And it's better than my last work in someone's home. I got a hotshot lawyer who thought I was his prize for breaking his leg when he went skiing. I had to threaten to break his other leg."

When she left, Kate went to see Rick. "Trouble today?"

"No. Not at all." He said innocently.

Kate decided not to bring anything more up. "I'm making you ravioli tonight. It'll be nice and soft, and easy to chew."

They shared dinner on his bed and then watched a movie on TV until it was bedtime.

"I'll sleep in the guest bedroom tonight." Kate told him.

"No!" He moaned. "You can't! Not after everything I've been through!"

"I don't want to roll over on you in my sleep and hurt you."

"Kate! Look at the size of this bed. There's plenty of room for both of us. Please?"

She relented. "Okay. I'll stay all the way on one side."

"And you'll be wearing?" Rick asked expectantly.

"Running shorts and a tee shirt."

"No! You promised!"

"When you're well, I won't wear a thing."

"Promises, promises." Rick grumped.

She kissed him softly. "It's a promise I'll keep."

The next morning at work, Kate was plowing through more police reports on cases she and Castle had worked and was getting nowhere. Her cell phone rang and she went to answer it. She froze when she saw the caller ID.

"Alexis, did your dad get a new cell phone already?"

"No. Why?"

"I'm getting a phone call from him. It must be from his old cell phone."

"But it was never recovered. "Alexis said, puzzled.

"Ryan! I need this phone call traced. It's from Castle's phone."

Kate carefully answered the phone, but said nothing, in case the kidnappers had accidentally butt dialed the phone. She heard nothing.

"Beckett!" Ryan called softly to her. "GPS is working. I've got it. I know where the phone is."

A half an hour later. Kate, her team, Gates, and a team from ESU, were gathered around their vehicles, around the corner from their target building. Captain Gates had a crudely drawn map. "This is a three story commercial that was foreclosed on eight months ago. Here, "She pointed to a room in the back of the building, "is where we think they were holding Mr. Castle. It was a small commercial recording studio. It has a soundproofed room. That would explain why he heard nothing the whole time and why they could torture him and not be heard." Captain Gates looked around. "Ready people? 

Everyone answered affirmatively.

"Then let's do this."

Kate was upset that She had to go in after the ESU team, and angry that Ryan and Esposito stayed in front of her.

"We're not letting anything happen to you now." Ryan had told her.

"Be more worried about something happening to you." She had replied, but let them take the lead.

"Room and building's clear." The ESU team leader called over the radio. "Detectives, you can come up now.

The first thing Kate saw was a frame made out of pipes. Two handcuffs hung from the top of the frame. Blood was on the handcuffs. _Castle's blood. He was here. This is where they…_

"Beckett?" Espo called to her. "Here's his phone, and there's a note under the phone. It looks like it's written in his blood. You need to read it."

Kate took the note from Espo. She read it and her heart nearly stopped and her blood ran cold. "We were wrong! We had the whole damned thing wrong!"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I don't. You know the rest. Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds.

Kate read the note written in Castle's blood over and over before finally turning it over to CSU.

Espo walked her out of the room so CSU could sweep it. "Hey! It's okay. The important thing is that we got him back. We can protect him. Nothing is going to happen to him." He got no reply. "Beckett? You okay?"

She shook her head. "I just feel so damned stupid and useless. All of the hours I wasted on….Nothing."

"We didn't waste time." Ryan said. "The people we've been looking at could still be involved."

Kate shook her head to clear it. "We need to get back to the precinct and reconsider our whole investigation. Then I need to go see Castle and…" She stopped and took several deep breaths. "And tell him how I screwed up."

"Beckett, you didn't…" Espo stopped. Kate was already headed for her car.

Once back in the precinct, she re-did the murder board, temporarily called the Castle board, and briefed Alexis on the note.

"You're sure it's not a red herring?" Alexis asked.

Kate stopped. She hadn't considered that before. "It could be. "She said slowly. "But we have to assume it's real. We'll need to go over more files. I'll have them brought up from storage. Meanwhile, start going over the files you already have. And Alexis, I'm sorry. I should have seen this. It's my fault that your dad is…"Tears began to fill Kate's eyes.

Alexis put her arms around Kate. "It's the fault of the people who did this to him and no one else's. They have to be criminals to have wanted to do this. Would you let all the criminals in New York go just because they might want revenge?"

"Thanks." Kate whispered, drying her eyes. "We need to get to work."

"You bet, Mom."

When Kate and Alexis returned to the loft that night, Alexis went to her room to let Kate be alone with her father. Kate walked around the loft anxiously as Catalina picked up her things and got ready to go. Finally, she was out the door.

"Rick?" She said, coming into his bedroom. "We found where they kept you."

"Where?"

She told him all about the sound proofed room in the recording studio and how they had found it. "And we found a note from them." Kate handed over a Xerox copy of the note.

Rick read it. "Beckett, this is payback, bitch. Now you know what it's like to have this happen to someone who loves you."

"So they kidnapped and tortured me because of something you did?" He said thoughtfully.

"Castle, I'm so sorry. "Kate could no longer keep the tears from falling.

"Hey! Hey! This is not your fault. Come here, Kate." He held out his hand, took hers and pulled her onto the bed with him. "This is not your fault. I do _not_ blame you. No one could blame you."

"I heard you." She managed to choke out.

"Sure. I'm right here."

"No." She took a deep breath and confessed. "I heard you in the cemetery. I heard you tell me that you love me."

Castle was surprised and shocked. "You heard me? When did you remember?"

"I never forgot. I knew when I saw you in the hospital."

"And you lied to me? You've been lying to me ever since?" He was now angry. "Why? Why the hell would you do that to me? Especially now that you say you love me?"

"Castle, please. I need to solve your kidnapping. Can we talk about why later? They knew that you loved me. Did you tell anyone else?"

"I told Martha. And no one else." He said quietly. "I doubt if she told anyone."

"I'll ask her and I'll ask the people nearest to us when…When it happened maybe they overheard you and told someone. I'll find out." Kate started to get up. But Castle pulled her back.

"We need to talk."

She nodded.

"Why? Can you just tell me why you did this to me? And do you really love me? Or is it just guilt from me getting kidnapped and beaten?"

Kate continued to cry, but managed to talk. "I've been obsessed with my mom's murder since I was nineteen. I built a wall around myself so no one could get close, just like I told you. And when anyone got too close to me, I ran away." She broke down for a minute, but recovered. "But what happened to me was as bad as my mom's murder, maybe worse. I was shot. I was in pain and I was frightened. Worse, my mentor, the man who made me the detective I am today had betrayed me. He knew, every day he knew me, he knew who killed my mom and he hid it from me. But he died for me. He killed Lockwood and his men saving me. Evelyn Montgomery is a widow and his children have no father because of what he did. I forgave Captain Montgomery and he died for me. And on top of that, Richard Castle loved me. I just couldn't handle all of that. I felt like I was hollow and numb. I spent most of my time at my dad's cabin crying. It was all I could manage to just handle my physical injuries. Every time I tried to work on my other problems, I'd just fall apart."

She moved closer to Castle, resting her head gently on his chest. "I've been in therapy since then. I've had my ups and downs. You remember the case when I first came back and the sniper case. Those were the downs. There were a hundred times I just wanted to put my arms around you and tell you how much I love you and how badly I need you. And every time I just fell apart again. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. I should have, I know, but I didn't. I'm so sorry, Castle. But I'll make it up to you. I will. I know you have every right to hate me, but if you'll give me a chance, I know I can make you love me as much as I love you. I do love you, Rick. I do. Please, just give me a chance."

"Kate, I love you. I love you, Kate." He whispered in her ear.

"You do?" Kate was surprised and a bit shocked.

"I do. I'm still mad at you. Confused. Hurt. Disappointed and a million other things. But nothing will ever stop me from loving you, Kate."

"I don't deserve you."

"Too bad. You're stuck with me." _And I'm stuck with my secret. We've both been lying. How can I get mad at Beckett when I've been doing the same thing? But at least we both know we love each other._

Rick and Kate snuggled on the bed together, luxuriating in just being together.

"We're going to be like this from now on, right?" She asked.

"Always."

"I like that word." But then she sat up. "But, to have an always, we have to solve your kidnapping."

Castle groaned. "You're a hard task mistress, Detective Beckett."

"If you think I was hard on you before, wait until you see what I'm like protecting the man that I love."

"It's not like you've ever been easy on me, you know." Kate turned away and Rick knew he'd said the wrong thing. He pulled her back down and hugged her. "Kate, honey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I've known how much pain and hurt you carry around from the first case we worked together. I hate adding to that pain. Forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive. You're right. I've insulted you, lied to you, mistreated you. I've never treated you like you deserve to be treated." She relaxed for a moment. "I've told you that I don't believe that people can change. I was wrong. I'm changing. I'll change more. I will be good to you. I will be good for you. And when I'm not, you should call me on it. Okay?"

"Tell me, Detective Beckett. How could I have fallen in love with you so deeply if you were at all bad for me. If you weren't perfect for me?"

"I mean it, Castle."

"I mean it, too. So let's change the subject. How's young Detective Castle doing?"

"She's doing fine. If I can't have you there, I'll settle for Alexis. But, she should go to college. I wouldn't want her to try to go to the police academy right out of high school."

Castle grimaced. "Not that I have anything against lady cops, but I agree with you."

Kate kissed him. "And now I'm going to make you dinner."

"Kate! I can't stand to eat more of that baby food that Marquez wants me to eat. Please? Some steak?"

"Okay." She got off the bed and headed for the kitchen.

"Are you serious?"

She turned around at the doorway. "I bought you a nice filet mignon, and you have potatoes and green peas. I'm going to cut your steak up into small pieces so you won't have to chew so hard. Okay?"

"Kate Beckett, have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Yes. But keep telling me."

"Dessert?" He called after her.

"We'll see."

She made dinner and then fed him, in spite of his complaints. "Kate, your food is going to get cold if you feed me. I can feed myself. Really, I can."

"With two broken wrists, and a dislocated shoulder, and broken and dislocated fingers on both hands? No, Rick. I'm going to take care of you."

"This is not what I had in mind for you taking care of me." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Soon." She teased.

After dinner she read to him from _Frozen Heat _until it was time for his night time pain pills.

"Do I have to?"

"What do you think?" She handed him the pills and a glass of water, then went into the bathroom to change and get ready for bed. When she came out, he was struggling to stay awake. She slid into bed beside him and then moved under the covers.

"Kate? What are you doing?"

"Dessert."

She rested her head on his stomach, then decided that night be painful to him and she doubted he'd say anything if it was. She propped herself up on one elbow and then slid his boxers off.

"This isn't fair." He moaned. "I'll be unconscious before you're done."

"Don't bet on it."

Kate stroked him until he started to get hard. Then she moved down and took him into her mouth. She moved up and down but stopped when she felt his hand gently stroke her hair. "Castle, no. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I'm not. And not being able to touch you at all is far more painful than anything they did to me. Just let me touch your hair, okay?"

She decided that arguing would do no good and went back to him. She moved up and down slowly, being careful not to get him so excited that he re-injured himself, but he exploded in her mouth without any problems.

"That was the best dessert I ever had." He said sleepily.

"Oh, you'll get better desserts later, Castle."

She waited for a reply, but he was asleep.

The next morning before she left for the precinct, she talked to Martha about that day at the cemetery and about the note they'd found at the crime scene.

"No, Katherine. I've never told anyone about what Richard said that day. Not a soul. But so many people believe you're involved that they wouldn't have had to hear Richard."

"I know, but we have to check everything." She turned to Alexis. "Did you hear your dad say he loved me that day?"

Alexis shook her head. "No, I was so upset about the shooting, everything is just a big blur."

"Oh, Katherine, could you do us a favor?" Martha asked.

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Alexis is going to go to Columbia University after lunch to check it out. She's applied there and they're having an open house. I was going to take her, but something came up at my school and I can't. Would you take her?"

"Gram! I don't need to go, I'm helping with Dad's case. And if I do have to go, I can take a cab or a bus."

Kate shook her head, but smiled at Alexis. "You need to go and I'll take you. You need to worry about getting into college."

Alexis frowned. "Yes, Detective…Mom."

All three women laughed.

Once at the precinct, Kate talked to Ryan, Esposito and Lanie about what had happened at the cemetery that day. Ryan and Espo said they hadn't heard anything and left it at that. As Kate expected, Lanie was a different story.

"You mean he told you that he loved you at the damned cemetery and you did nothing about it? Are you out of your mind, girl? And then you lied to him about it? What were you thinking?"

Kate couldn't meet Lanie's eyes, but managed to reply. "I know I screwed up. I know how badly I screwed up. But we fixed it, Lanie. We're together now and we'll stay together. So just tell me if you heard him."

Lanie glared at her. "I didn't. And you know if I had heard that, you'd have heard from me. Kate, are you _trying_ to screw up your relationship with Castle? Is this some kind of punishment you're imposing on yourself for…I don't know why?"

Kate shook her head. "No. I just didn't think I could ever be the kind of person who could be with Castle, the kind of person he deserves, until I had solved Mom's murder. I finally realized just how badly I need Castle. I love him and I can't imagine being without him."

Lanie smiled and hugged her friend. "And don't you ever forget it, Kate."

"I won't."

Kate decided she's ask her dad later if he'd heard Castle at the cemetery. He was sure that if he heard that, he'd have brought it up before this. Instead, she pulled out another case file that she had worked on before she ever met Castle and started reading through it.

"Kate?" Alexis said quietly. "You went to Stanford, right?"

"Years ago, yes."

"Can you tell me a little about it?"

"Are you thinking of going there?"

"I don't know. I'd be seeing Ashley again, although I know it's a big school and it's all the way on the other side of the country. How did you adjust being so far from home?"

Kate thought about it. "At the time, I was happy to get out and be on my own. I was still the rebel KBecks, then. Or I thought I was. But after my mom was killed, I wished more than anything that I had gone to school in New York City, someplace so close that I could have lived at home. But, what was good or bad for me will be different for you."

Kate checked her watch. "Why don't we go get lunch and then I'll drive you over to Columbia."

"It's a little early, isn't it?" Alexis asked.

"It'll give me a chance to talk to you about my college years."

Kate told Captain Gates that she was taking Alexis to lunch. Gates, who seemed to be deeply engrossed in the monthly reports for One PP, just grunted and waved her away.

"Ryan, Espo, I'm going to lunch with Alexis and then I'm going to drive her to Columbia University. She's applied there and they have an open house there."

Kate was head back to the precinct after dropping Alexis of when she got a call from Espo. "Beckett! I think we finally got a break. Hernando Cruz, the guy whose fingerprints were on the van Houten's car. The car that Castle's wallet was tossed from."

"What about him?"

"The FBI just sent us back the results of the facial recognition they did on the electronics store. Since it wasn't their case they apparently took their own sweet time. That's the store where we thought that Westie Grogan had bought that burner phone, the one used to phone us with Castle being tortured. Cruz bought a burner phone there. You can see the packaging and it's the same brand of phone that we found."

Kate thought furiously. "Okay, we should talk to him. Can you go get him?"

"There's more." Espo said. "He told us he had been fired over a year ago from the school district. We checked. He quit about three months ago. He wasn't fired. And he worked at the school district warehouse where the laptop was stolen from. And he was working at Manhattan Scientific and Technical the day that Sarah Goldman had her phone stolen from the mall she went to after school. We've sent uniforms to his place, but he's not there. We have a BOLO out on him."

"Espo, his alibi was his sister. They were at a picnic or something. I'll bet a sister would lie for her brother." Something clicked in Kate's brain. "His sister! What's her name?"

She could hear Espo rustling papers. "It's Catalina. But she uses her mother's maiden name, she's…"

"Catalina Marquez!" Kate screamed. "She's Castle's nurse. Get uniforms to the loft at once. I'm close, so I'll be there first."

"We're right behind you."

Kate hit her lights and siren and headed for Castle's loft, weaving through traffic. When she was two blocks away, she cut the siren, not wanting to alert Catalina. She double parked, telling the doorman that uniforms would be there soon. She rode the elevator up, cursing under her breath at its slowness. She got off and walked to Castle's door, drawing her sidearm as she did. Very slowly, she inserted her key in the lock and opened the door.

"Why, Catalina?" That was Castle's voice. He was all right.

She walked as quietly as she could to his bedroom and peeked into the room. Catalina was straddling him as if for sex, but in her hand was a scalpel. She was holding it in front of her so that Rick could see it clearly.

"You'll find out when my brother gets here. You'll find out just what your bitch girlfriend did to us. And when you're dead, she'll know some small part of what we knew. If she's capable of feeling anything, that is. It wouldn't surprise me if that dirty _puta _didn't care for you or anyone else. She didn't care about what she did to us."

Beckett stepped through the door, covering Catalina with her Glock. "I do care, Catalina. I care enough to kill you if you move. Now put the scalpel down. We can talk about this. I don't know why you hate me so much, but it has nothing to do with Castle. Put the scalpel down. I can help you."

Catalina laughed. "You can help? Like you helped us before? Liar!"

"I don't know what I did. Tell me. We can fix this. But first, you need to put the scalpel down. You don't want to hurt Castle and I don't want to hurt you. But, if you try anything, you'll be dead. And nothing will fix that."

"Do you think I care? I don't care any more than you did."

"I care. And Castle cares, and I think that deep down inside you care. Put the scalpel down, please."

Catalina screamed and the scalpel slashed at Castle's jugular.

Beckett fired.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Who owns Castle you ask? Not me. Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds.

"Castle!" Kate screamed.

All that she could see was that Catalina had collapsed on top of Castle and that there was blood everywhere.

"Yeah?" Castle said weakly.

She quickly checked Catalina. The 9mm bullet had hit her just above the ear. She was dead. "Are you okay? Are you bleeding?"

Castle shifted around under Catalina's body. "She missed me. But I'm going to need a new pillow and case. The scalpel is stuck in it." He took a deep breath. "And I'll have to change my boxers."

Kate could hear the sound of sirens heading to the loft. "I should go out and let everyone know that everything's okay. I don't want a uniform coming in here thinking there's a dangerous killer and opening fire. "

"Kate? She said that her brother was on his way. Be careful. He may be just outside or something."

Kate reached down and pulled her back-up piece from her ankle holster. "Here. You keep this just in case."

"Gates will go ballistic if she finds out about this." He said, taking the pistol.

"Then we won't tell anyone, will we?"

Kate opened the front door slowly and peeked out into the hallway. It was clear. She heard the elevator coming up. When the elevator door opened she yelled, "Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. Identify yourself."

"Beckett! It's me. Officer Ann Hastings. I'm alone. Are you okay? What happened?"

"Come on out."

Hastings came out and the elevator door closed behind her. "You okay?" She asked again, "I thought I heard a shot."

Kate nodded. "It was his nurse. She was going to kill him."

Hastings was confused. "His nurse? Why would she want to kill Castle?"

"To get back at me for something I did to her and her brother, but I don't know what it was. It just makes no damned sense." Kate suddenly thought of something. "She said her brother was coming here. They were going to kill Castle together, I guess. Stay here and…"

Both women froze as the heard the elevator coming up again. They took what cover they could in the hall and waited.

"Beckett?" Espo called quietly as the door opened. "You there? I see there's a blue and white outside. Who's here?"

"Espo! It's me and Officer Hastings. Is Ryan with you?"

"Where else would I be?" Ryan replied.

Both detectives stepped out of the elevator. "What happened?"

"Come on in. His nurse tried to kill him with a scalpel. Her brother is on the way, so be careful. And I still don't know why they hated me so much."

"Beckett? Who's there?" Castle called.

"Ryan and Espo and Ann Hastings. And there'll be more on the way."

"Okay, but could someone please get her off of me?"

Espo stayed to man the door while the three other police officers went into Castle's bedroom.

"Castle, we should try to leave her where she is, as much as we can. CSU and the shooting team will want the crime scene as close as possible to the way it was. But we should get you out of there."

She went to pull the bedclothes off of Castle, but he pulled them back over him. "Problem?" She asked.

"I normally have no problem showing off my buff, toned body to the opposite sex, "He nodded towards Hastings, "but I'm afraid you might get jealous."

Hastings laughed and left Ryan and Kate with Castle.

"Um, once you get me up, I need to go to the bathroom." He whispered.

"You need to…Oh." She managed not to smile. "I'll take you in and help you."

"I can do it myself." He insisted.

"Maybe and maybe you'd hurt yourself. Now, where's your clean underwear?"

"Ryan, can you help me?" He pleaded.

One look at Kate decided Ryan that he had no desire to get involved in this. "Sorry, Castle."

"Kate, it's kind of embarrassing."

"Castle, come on. We don't have time for this."

Castle leaned on her shoulder and she helped him into the bathroom. Kate helped him clean up and helped him into a pair of clean boxers.

"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" She whispered.

"There are parts of it that I could get used to."

She giggled. "There are parts of it we will get used to. Now come on. I'm going to help you get dressed."

"Get dressed? Why?"

"Because I'm not letting you out of my sight until Hernando Cruz is in jail, or dead. I'm taking you with me to the precinct. Do you have some sweats? That should be the easiest to dress you in."

"You expect me to go out and see everyone, and have everyone see me, in sweats?"

"Rick! I'm trying to keep you safe from a killer!" Kate said testily.

Rick ignored her. "The blue suit, I think. And…Yes, the dark blue silk shirt and the maroon tie. Luckily, I shaved and showered this morning. And I'll need some cologne."

"Don't push your luck." Kate said, but with a smile.

Rick was nearly dressed as the CSU team arrived. Kate got his crutches and maneuvered him into the living room to finish the job, while the CSU team went over the bedroom.

Lanie showed up next. "You two are all right?" She asked.

"Don't we look all right?" Castle asked, smiling at her.

"I said, are the _two_ of you all right?"

"Oh! The two of us? Me and the lovely Detective Beckett. We're fine. Better than fine. We're perfect. Couldn't be better."

Lanie nodded. "Just checking. It's so damned hard to tell with you two."

Kate blushed slightly. "We're going to be fine from now on."

Ryan, Esposito and Kate got Castle down to her Crown Vic and took him back to the precinct. He was soon sitting in his accustomed chair, looking over the records they had on Hernando and Catalina Cruz.

"This doesn't make sense." Kate said, after reviewing the two thin files." She has a parking ticket, a speeding ticket in New Jersey and a public intoxication when she was a teenager. He's got a drunk and disorderly and a speeding ticket. I wasn't involved in any of them. Why the hell would these two hate me that badly?"

Espo shrugged. "The uniforms that we sent after him are going over his place right now. Maybe they'll find something."

"Maybe it's another thing like that Scott Dunn." Ryan said. "Maybe he can't tell the difference between you and Nikki Heat."

Castle shook his head firmly. "One of them could be that delusional, but both of them having the same delusion? Not going to happen."

The team spent the rest of the day trying to find some connection between the Cruz's and Beckett or anyone in the NYPD. However, nothing popped.

"Castle, let's go home." Beckett finally said.

"And I should go with you two." Espo said. "We have uniforms sitting on your loft now in case Cruz starts something, but it'll be better if I sleep on your couch tonight."

"I'll take tomorrow night." Ryan volunteered.

"Jenny'll love that." Espo said under his breath.

"Hey! Jenny knows what being a cop's wife means. I'll be there tomorrow night."

Once at the loft, Castle order Chinese take-out and then Espo and Alexis settled down for a serious Call of Duty tournament. This allowed Rick and Kate to sneak into his bedroom.

Rick eased himself down onto the bed and Kate quickly joined him.

Rick looked at her and decided he had had to tell her about the man who was keeping her safe.

"Kate, I have something to tell you and you won't like it."

Kate felt fear grip her heart. "Is it about us?"

He kissed her softly. "I love you. That is _never_ going to change."

Kate relaxed. "So what is it?"

"Before Montgomery got shot, he sent a package of papers to a friend. Records that could destroy the man who ordered your mom's murder. He did this to keep you safe."

"Castle, how do you know this?"

"Montgomery told me. In order for this to work, someone had to keep you from investigating your mom's murder."

"You?"

He nodded.

"How could you do that? You cut a deal for my life like I was some kind of child."

"No I didn't. Montgomery cut the deal. What was I supposed to say? "Sorry, Roy. It's a shame you have to die and leave behind a widow and three children, but I just can't help you out here and help save Kate's life. She'd be mad at me and that could be a problem since I love her. So have a good day."

Kate shook her head in disbelief. "Why? Why would you do this to me?"

"Because I love you, Kate. Because I think you're the most remarkable... maddening... challenging... frustrating person I've ever met."

"Who is this man who's supposedly protecting me?"

Castle shrugged. "He's a voice on the phone, a shadowy figure in a garage."

"How do you know he's not behind my mom's murder?"

"Because Montgomery picked him. He knew who was behind her murder. He wasn't stupid, Kate."

"And all this time you've had this evidence and you never told me?"

"Why? So you could go get yourself killed?" He said bitterly. "This isn't' a murder investigation any more, Kate, it's a war. And they're coming for you."

"Let them come. They sent Coonan and he's dead. And they sent Lockwood and he's dead."

Castle nodded. "And they went after your mom and she's dead along with three other people. And they went after Raglan and they went after McAllister and they're dead. And they went after Roy Montgomery and he's dead. Montgomery knew who you were up against and he didn't think you'd win. And he was right. They only have to be good or lucky once to kill you, Kate. They can hire hundreds of people like Coonan and Lockwood. You have to be good and lucky every time, Kate. I think Montgomery was right and he died because he believed that. And I protected you because I believed Montgomery was right. And because I love you. "

Kate rolled over on the bed, away from Castle. "Are you still going to try to stop me?"

"Now that you know the truth, there's no point in that. And, since we know we love each other, all I can do is stand with you. Always."

"Always?" She asked.

"Always." He said sincerely.

She rolled over and kissed him. "Good."

The next morning Kate came out of Castle's bedroom to make breakfast to find Alexis, Martha and Esposito already busy in the kitchen.

"Will Richard be out soon?" Martha asked.

Kate nodded. "He insisted on tying his own shoelaces. He should be out in a minute." She carefully looked at Esposito who remained perfectly poker faced. _He must know Castle and I are together, but he won't say anything. That's one less worry I have. If Gates ever found out about us…Well, Gates will never find out about us. _

Kate decided that it would be easier to have all of the Castles come to the precinct rather than have uniforms stay with Martha. They were met at the elevator door by a tall slender African-American woman who Kate knew vaguely from Vice. "Hi. I'm Detective Cromwell. We may have something. Captain Gates wants everyone in the conference room."

If Gates was surprised or upset that all three Castles were present, she didn't show it. Once everyone was seated, she began.

"We talked to one of the neighbors who knew the Cruz's parents. He was able to point us in the right direction. I think the records we have explain the Cruz's actions."

Gates opened a file before her, one of several. "This begins in 1983 with Oswaldo Cruz, Hernando and Catalina's father. He fled from El Salvador to escape the civil war there. He got to Texas, got a fake social security card and a fake driver's license and got a job in the construction industry. "

"Texas? 1983?" Beckett said. "How can this involve me?"

"Be patient, Detective." Gates said, and went on. "The problem came when Cruz's boss asked him to take a pick up and get a few things for a job. Cruz had a driver's license, but had never driven. He didn't want to give himself away, so he went. He had an accident and killed two people. He was sent to prison in Texas for vehicular manslaughter. Somehow, he managed to offend a Hispanic prison gang. As a Hispanic with no gang to protect him, he was easy prey to both white and African American prison gangs, as well as the Hispanics. He was apparently repeatedly beaten up. Possibly raped as well."

Gates picked up another file. "After two years he was given parole. Because he had entered this country illegally, he was deported back to El Salvador and a condition of his parole was that he could never come back to the US. If he did, Texas would put him back in jail for the remainder of his sentence."

Gates opened another file. "He did come back, of course. The civil war in El Salvador was still raging. This time he went to New York. Once here, he met a US citizen and married her, got a job, settled down and began raising a family."

"Everything was good until 2000. He got into a fight in a bar and was arrested. As it happened, he wasn't at fault. He was attacked by some belligerent drunk. But he had been brought in and processed. When they ran his prints, they found he was here illegally and, eventually, that Texas wanted him to complete his sentence. He had been released, so he was re-arrested by Officers Royce and Beckett."

"What happened to him?" Kate asked.

"After you two arrested him, he told his family that he'd never go back to Texas. He was turned over to Immigration who took him to a hearing. He tried to escape. When the immigration agents got him out of their car, he broke away from them and ran. He ran right into the path of a bus. He was killed."

"And his family blamed Royce and me?"

"You appear to have been the only two cops that the Cruz family ever saw."

Gates picked up the final file. "According to some neighbors. Mrs. Cruz never recovered from her husband's death. She began drinking a lot. Eventually, she froze to death outside of a bar while drunk."

"Why did the two children wait so long to go after me?" Kate asked.

Gates shrugged. "We have no idea. You and Mr. Castle have made the papers a few times, as did Royce's murder. Or maybe they just saw you walking down the street and recognized you."

Gates stood up. "Okay, people. We have a BOLO on Hernando Cruz. Let's go find him before someone else gets hurt, okay?"

Once back at Kate's desk, Castle asked "What are we going to do now?"

"We're going to go over all the records we can find on Hernando Cruz to try to find him."

"We should be out on the street, looking for him." Castle said.

Beckett shook her head determinedly. "Not a chance. You are not leaving this precinct until it's time to go home."

"I am not going to sit here and do nothing."

Kate glared at Castle, "You are staying here. Even if I have to handcuff you to that chair."

Castle turned to Ryan and Esposito. "Come on, guys. Some help here? You know I can help you out there."

Espo shook his head. "You stay. Even if _we_ have to handcuff you to that chair."

"And if we have to sit on you as well." Martha added, Alexis nodded in support of her grandmother.

"Well, at least everyone's agreed on something for a change." Castle grumped.

From the precinct, Kate coordinated the search for Hernando Cruz. Officers were sent to the various schools where he worked, and to the hospital where his sister had worked. Other officers canvassed his neighborhood. No one seemed to have any idea where Cruz could be.

Shortly before one o'clock, the elevator door opened and Castle stood up, although slowly. "Hey! Someone ordered pizza."

A pizza delivery man had entered the bullpen with an armload of pizzas in his hands. As Castle started to move to the man, Kate froze. "Castle! Get down!"

As soon as she screamed, the pizza boxes went flying and Cruz's gun came out of his jacket. Kate pushed Castle to the floor and grabbed for her gun. She heard the loud report of a shot and felt the bullet whiz past her. She fired and put a bullet through Cruz's jacket, but didn't hit him. Cruz aimed carefully at Castle with a maniacal smile on his face. Kate was trying to get a sight picture when another weapon behind her fired. Cruz whirled to his right, bleeding from the hip.

"Give it up or the next round will be through your head." Captain Gates screamed.

Kate carefully aimed at his right arm and fired. Cruz screamed again and fell to the ground. Two uniforms jumped on Cruz and wrestled the weapon away from him.

"Castle? Are you okay?" Kate screamed.

Castle sat up, looking himself over. "I think so, but I hurt all over from landing on the floor so hard. Couldn't we get a nice carpet in here?"

Kate went to the man she loved. "Are you sure you're okay?" She began to check Castle out.

"Why Detective Beckett! Are you getting fresh with me?"

"That'll be later." She whispered.

"Promises, promises." He whispered back.

"Are you all right, Mr. Castle?" Gates was suddenly standing in front of them.

"I didn't find any bullet wounds, sir." Beckett said, quickly removing her hands from him. "And thank you for shooting Cruz, sir. I don't think I could have fired in time."

"You shot Cruz?" Castle asked, the question tinged with disbelief.

"Detective Beckett got in the second hit, but I was first." Gates replied.

"Uh, thanks then. I, um…I know I'm not…Thanks, anyway." He managed to finish.

"Really, Mr. Castle! Do you think that I'd allow my precinct to he turned into a shooting gallery?" She turned to Beckett. "You might want to take Mr. Castle home, Detective. He's had a very bad day. You can both come in tomorrow and do the paperwork on this incident."

Castle began hobbling to the elevator as soon as the words were out of Gates' mouth with Beckett not far behind. "Thanks, sir." She called out over her shoulder.

The next day they came to work together. As soon as they arrived, they were called into Gates' office.

"Please, sit." Gates said. "Mr. Cruz wanted to talk to some detectives last night, so I sent some people over. Detective Beckett, Mr. Cruz hates you so much, he was far more interested in telling everyone how much he hates you and why than he was in not incriminating himself. We got quite a confession. What we thought was true. This was about revenge for his father and mother. I suppose on some level they understood you and Royce were hardly responsible for what happened, but their hatred of law enforcement in general overwhelmed them. And, about a year ago, they saw a news article about you and Mr. Castle. They recognized you and that set off this plot."

"That just doesn't make any sense." Castle said.

"Revenge rarely does, Mr. Castle." Gates took two sheaves of paper off of her desk and handed one each to Castle and Beckett. "And now there's some forms for you two to fill out for the investigation and the shooting team. I trust you'll have them done by the end of the day?"

Castle sat next to Beckett at her desk, looking over the forms he needed to complete. "I get tortured and shot at and my reward is doing paperwork?"

"Now you know how I feel." Beckett said softly. "But I'm sure a reward can be arranged later."

Much later.

Kate stretched, smiling and feeling the hot sun on her skin. A shadow passed over her and the man she loved bent over her.

"Another pina colada?" Rick asked.

Kate sat up, taking the drink and then looking out over the veranda of their rented house to the Caribbean Sea gently lapping the Bahamian beach their house sat near. "Thank you. Thanks for everything."

Castle smiled. "I told you once you deserved to be happy. Now I can spend the rest of my life making sure you're happy."

"Speaking of making me happy, I think I need more sun screen."

"More?" He raised an eyebrow.

"If I'm going to get an overall tan, I'll need lots of sunscreen where I've never been tanned." She handed him a bottle of sunscreen.

"You're a hard task mistress, Detective Beckett."

"Speaking of hard…"


End file.
